Tag: Investment Scam

A win for the FCA against Capital Alternatives
Pension Life is pleased to report that the FCA has woken up long enough to do a spot of regulating and has won an important case over the promotion of unregulated investment schemes. The firm flogging the schemes, Capital Alternatives, must pay back nearly £17m to investors.

The FCA alleged that Capital Alternatives used “false, misleading and deceptive statements” to lure unsuspecting investors into four toxic, high-risk investments (scams) between 2009 and 2013. Capital Alternatives, ran investment schemes/scams involving rice farm harvests in Sierra Leone and carbon credits across Sierra Leone, Brazil and Australia.

In reality, Capital Alternatives sold more land to investors than it actually owned.

Court proceedings have been taking place since July 2013, with The High Court deciding in February 2014 that the schemes/scams were collective investment schemes which could not be lawfully operated by the defendants. Since this date defendants have been appealing the decision.

It must be highlighted that Capital Alternatives are not the only defendants involved in this case. This is perhaps why proceedings have taken so long. In fact, the FCA stated that there are a staggering 15 more defendants involved in this case.

The FCA lists the defendants:
1. Capital Alternatives Limited
2. Capital Secretarial Limited
3. Capital Organisation Limited
4. Capital Administration Services Limited
5. MH Trustees Limited
6. Marcia Hargous
7. Renwick Haddow
8. Richard Henstock (case settled)
9. African Land Limited
10. Robert McKendrick
11. Alan Meadowcroft
12. Regency Capital Limited
13. Reforestation Projects Limited
14. Mark Ayres/Eyres
15. Mark Gibbs
16. the estate of David Waygood (case settled).
The eighth and sixteenth defendants settled their cases previously and have paid £33,000 and £200,000 towards compensation for the investors. The FCA has received this money and will hold it until the Court issue further directions to the FCA about the return of money to victims.

The bad news for investors in Capital Alternatives, is that the High Court’s decision is still open to appeal. The FCA can proceed to obtain monies from the Defendants only when no further appeals are made. In the meantime, the FCA is seeking new injunctions restraining the assets of some of the defendants. We sincerely hope this means there will be some funds left to be returned to the victims of this scam.

But it would be better news if the other 14 defendants find it in their conscience to settle out of court and put the victims out of their misery. It is terrible to find out that you have put hard-earned money into high-risk, illiquid or even worthless investments.

FCA Director of Enforcement Mark Steward has been reported as saying:

“This judgment should send a clear message to all of those who use corporate facades to sell dubious investments. We will do what it takes to hold them to account for their misconduct.

We are acutely aware from experience that the risk to investors who deal with unauthorised firms is that most, if not all, investors are likely only to get a fraction of their money back.

Consumers should recognise that there are huge risks involved when investing with unauthorised businesses.”

Investors should be aware that investments into sustainable/renewable energies, farming and recycling schemes are favorites of scammers. They entice you in with promises of your investment being good for the environment. However, they are rarely good for your pocket. James Hay and Elysian Bio fuel is one example of toxic investment using biofuels as a lure.

In Novemeber 2017 we also wrote about the SFOs letter to Frank Field. The letter highlighted cases of prosecutions against pensions fraud.

Sustainable Agroenergy (SAE) Plc: investors were told their investments were in biofuel products, that land was owned in Cambodia and planted with Jatropha trees – a tree with highly toxic fruit that could be used to produce biofuel. At the time of sale, there was already evidence to show that the product was neither sustainable nor profitable.

New Earth Recycling fund – an investment scam promoted by a number of dodgy firms including Robert Parker of Holborn Assets and Paul Herd of Elite Wealth Management. This high-risk, toxic investment offered big fat introduction commissions. The introducers were the only ones to profit from this investment.

The BARRATT AND DALTON PENSION SCAM: – one couple fell victim to this scam despite being advised by their pension provider that it could be a scam. They received a lump sum and were told their pension was invested in truffle trees. After reporting the case to the police, they were later informed that their lump sum was from their own funds and HMRC promptly served them with a large tax bill.

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As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.
April 12, 2018
Alan Kentish of STM Groups delivers news of record profits for 2017
QROPS provider STM Group’s Alan Kentish, is delighted to deliver reports of record profits for 2017. I wonder how delighted the victims of his previous scam, the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund, are to hear this. I think we’d be more delighted to hear that Kentish planned to pay all the victims of this investment fraud (currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office) full compensation for their losses.

The company, STM Fidecs, which has recently moved its head office to the UK from Gibraltar, says its annual profits grew last year by 43% after the introduction of a new SIPPS.

Kentish went on to say,

“Moving into 2018, we have a solid recurring revenue platform on which to look to launch new products and to expand our distribution network as part of a strategy to make our business even more robust.”

In our opinion, there is nothing robust about Kentish and his various dodgy products. And the Gibraltar regulator shares our opinion as well as our concerns. In a letter dated 6.11.2017, the GFSC wrote to the directors of STM Fidecs about their concerns following a series of onsite visits:

“COMPLIANCE: effectiveness and oversight of the company’s internal compliance functions; high turnover of staff in compliance officer and money laundering regulatory officer roles; general suitability and experience of compliance staff.

PROFESSIONAL TRUSTEE SERVICES: level and nature of due diligence when accepting new QROPS business and whether legal and regulatory obligations were being met; nature of investments e.g. the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund linked to serious customer detriment and fraud”

The Gibraltar regulator appointed three partners of forensic investigators CVR Global LLP to inspect and investigate the affairs of STM Fidecs. The deadline for completion of this inspection is end of March 2018 and the GFSC has warned that:
- a person who wilfully makes a statement or furnishes information knowing it to be untrue;
- a person who refuses to supply information or cooperate with an inspector
is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment.

I wonder if any of STM’s fat profits will be used to help balance the heavy losses made by the company’s past “mistakes”. At the height of the success of the Trafalgar Multi Asset investment scam, STM Fidecs was accepting more than £1 million a month from UK residents (none of whom should have transferred into a QROPS at all) and allowing it all to be invested in XXXX XXXX’s illegal UCIS.

I find it very hard to swallow that Kentish can continue to offer his “products” to unsuspecting future victims – given his murky past record. Kentish has stated “I look forward to updating the market on our developments during the year.” But has he updated the Trafalgar victims about the development of their lost funds being recouped? No he has not. He has just scraped his past misdemeanors under the carpet and hoped they will be forgotten.

After his arrest in October 2017, Kentish was released without charge and was fully backed by the STM board. (They are obviously a load of crooked clowns who are no better than Kentish himself). He has, also, been given the green light to further his venture into offering legal SIPPS wrappers to clients, that have the potential to contain high-risk, toxic investments. The results of which may well leave even more unsuspecting victims’ pension funds in tatters.

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As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.
March 29, 2018
DEMAND FOR LEONTEQ’S AWARDS TO BE WITHDRAWN BY SWISS DERIVATIVES AWARDS

DEMAND FOR LEONTEQ’S

SWISS DERIVATIVES

AWARDS TO BE WITHDRAWN

alex.geissbuehler@gwp.ch, reto.weber@gwp.ch, stephan.welti@gwp.ch, pia.aeberhard@gwp.ch, admira.besic@gwp.ch, regine.wolfensberger@gwp.ch, media@leonteq.com , info@payoff.ch

(Interesting use of the phrase “pay off” in the awards organisers’ email address above – I wonder who got paid off to make this disgusting award.)

DEMAND FOR LEONTEQ’S SWISS DERIVATIVES AWARDS TO BE WITHDRAWN

On behalf of hundreds of victims of the Continental Wealth Management pension and investment scam – many of whom have lost huge proportions of their retirement savings – I hereby demand that the awards given to Leonteq at the Swiss Derivative Awards 2018 should be withdrawn immediately.

It is a sickening afront to decency that this award was ever given in the first place. The judges must surely have known that Leonteq had facilitated a major, multi-million-pound scam with Continental Wealth Management between 2010 and 2016. Leonteq has had the audacity to brag that “the awards are proof that Leonteq has a dedicated, strong and highly service oriented team in place. We are very proud of the recognition of our work, and would like to sincerely thank our clients and partners for their trust”.

Leonteq is “proud” of the destruction it has wrought on hundreds of people’s pensions and investments?

Leonteq has paid not a penny in compensation to its many victims – many of whom will die from stress-related illnesses due to the losses suffered from Leonteq’s toxic, high-risk structured notes. Leonteq was paying unlicensed scammers Continental Wealth Management commissions of between 6% and 8% to peddle these risky notes – which amount to nothing more than gambling. None of these notes were suitable for low-risk pension savers as the documentation clearly stated that there was a danger that investors could lose part or all of their capital.

To reward Leonteq for such behaviour, for facilitating a £200 million investment scam, and ruining many hundreds of victims, is a disgrace. This abomination brings shame upon Switzerland as a jurisdiction which tolerates such disgusting practices, and also brings the reputation of financial services into disrepute.

Kindly pass this email on to all those responsible for the Swiss Derivative Awards and ensure that the judges are removed and replaced with competent judges who do proper due diligence before handing out awards to a firm which facilitates financial crime.

Angela Brooks

March 25, 2018
Top 10 Deadliest Pension Scammers

Pension scammers are hidden all around us, often dressed in smart clothes, driving smart cars and carrying impressive leather folders. They offer what seems like smart investments, push through your pension fund transfer swiftly and seamlessly. However what you don´t see on the surface is their hidden parasitic ways. These scammers will drain the funds from your pension, investing in high-risk, toxic investments, that only they will profit from.

Here´s Pension Life´s, “Top 10 Pension Scammers”. (Please note: this information is correct as of the today´s date only, as pension scammers are evolving daily and as one falls another will rise!)

10 – Square Mile International

John (Gus) Ferguson’s firm Square Mile International promote unregulated toxic crap to pension savers and employs unqualified David Vilka. The so-called “advisers” promoted the Blackmore Global Fund.

It is still unclear what has actually happened to the money invested into the Blackmore Global Fund.

9 – James Lau & Tudor Capital Management

James Lau was a financial adviser with Wightman, Fletcher McCabe (FSA regulated) – part of the Clarkson Hill Group. Along with directors Peter Bradley and Andrew Meeson, of Tudor Capital Management (subsequently jailed for eight years for money laundering and tax fraud), James Lau conned 116 victims into transferring their pensions, investing in forex trading companies, and liberating up to 85% of their pensions. Lau is now rumoured to be in hiding in Hong Kong. The victims are now facing 55% tax charges by HMRC.

8 – Friendly Pensions

David Austen of Friendly Pensions, used cold-calling and high-pressure sales tactics to strong-arm 245 victims into investing in 11 fake schemes, including a truffle farm.

Dalton, Barratt and Hanson all served as trustees on the fake schemes set up by Austin – who is described as the mastermind – and were paid more than £550,000 between them. The four scammers who conned pension savers out of £13.7 million have now been banned from the industry but not imprisoned. The victims, however, lost everything.

7 – Continental Wealth Management (CWM)

One thousand people were relieved of up to £100 million worth of pension funds. Conned by a motley assortment of snake oil salesmen, the victims were promised high returns, but all they got was high losses. Old Mutual International (OMI) were the provider for the bulk of the insurance bonds in this scam. Funds were invested in risky, toxic structured notes which were clearly labelled as “for professional investors only”. Clients were lied to, as when they saw the value of their funds plunging dramatically, the Continental Wealth Management scammers assured the victims that the reported losses were “only paper losses”. Continental Wealth Management collapsed in September 2017.

6 -XXXX XXXX

XXXX XXXX was the “distributor” of the Capita Oak, Henley, Westminster and various SIPPS scams in 2012/13. He was also operating pension liberation fraud with his “loan” company: Thurlstone. When these schemes collapsed in 2013, he went on to launch an investment scam called Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund. Capita Oak, Henley, Westminster and Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund are now all under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. XXXX XXXX has been arrested and his offices searched.

5 – Nunn and McCreesh

Phillip Nunn – along with his sidekick and partner in crime Patrick McCreesh – provided “lead generation” services to the Capita Oak and Henley scams. At up to 200 leads a month for more than two years, he was responsible for the destruction of £ millions of pension funds – and got paid nearly £1 million in fees for doing so. He then went on to set up an investment scam called Blackmore Global – a UCIS which is illegal to be promoted to retail pension savers. It is not known whether the investors have lost some, most or all of the funds in Blackmore Global as Phillip Nunn refuses to have an independent audit carried out on the fund.

4 – Steve Pimlott – Windsor Pensions

Steve Pimlott has been running Windsor Pensions for at least seven years. He claims to have done around 5,000 pension liberations and assures victims that HMRC will be “unlikely” to catch up with them. Pimlott uses QROPS schemes such as Danica in Sweden and then sets up a fraudulent bank account in the Isle of Man. The transfer never goes anywhere near Danica, of course. But the transfer is sent to the IoM bank account – 85% is paid out to the victim and Pimlott trousers the other 15%. HMRC is now taxing the victims at 55% – although they have never taken action against Pimlott who is still operating happily in Florida (not far from where Stephen Ward has his six luxury villas).

3 – Fast Pensions

Peter Moat and his wife Sara Moat were chums of Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions. They ran a loan company called Blu Debt Management and also had several other businesses involving estate agency and pension administration. Hundreds of victims were transferred into the Moats’ Fast Pension schemes, and now the victims cannot access their pensions or transfer out. Peter and Sara Moat live in the Javea area of the Spanish Costa Blanca and have had 18 Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations against them for mal-administration of the pension schemes they are running. It is thought that around 400 victims are affected, although it is not known how much they have lost between them. It is known that several years ago, a substantial amount of the funds were loaned to Bridgebank Capital and then used as bridging loans for property developers. But the money has since been repaid and goodness only knows where it is now. Certainly not accessible to the members.

2 – Stephen Ward

Ark: 486 victims; £27 million at risk; 55% tax penalties on 50% loans

Evergreen: 300 victims; £10 million at risk

Capita Oak: 300 victims; £10 million at risk; tax penalties on XXXX XXXX’s Thurlstone “loans”

Westminster: 200 victims; £7 million at risk; tax penalties on “loans”

Southlands, Headforte, Feldspar, Hammerley, Maribel, Dorrixo Alliance, Halkin, Bollington Wood, Randwick Estates, Elysian Fuels, London Quantum – and many more. Stephen Ward remains active with DB transfers.

and in first position we have …..

1 – HMRC

Yes, you read correctly, HMRC is our number-one culprit in the Top 10 pension scammers list. And here’s why:

Since at least 2010, pension scams have been on the rise. That’s 8 years, yet regulations have not been changed, HMRC has not become vigilant or conscientious about registering pension scams, and new laws have not been put in place to stop scammers.

In fact, the scams are registered in the first place by HMRC, and in the case of occupational schemes also by tPR.

No notice is taken of whether the schemes are registered by known scammers and no questions are asked as to the purpose of the schemes.

In the case of James Lau’s Salmon Enterprises, the trustees – Meeson and Bradley – had been investigated by HMRC and arrested in March 2010 on suspicion of money laundering and tax fraud. However, HMRC did nothing to warn ceding providers or the public and Salmon Enterprises was left as an HMRC-registered, fully-operational occupational scheme.

Later that year, one ceding provider queried the legitimacy of the Salmon Enterprises scheme, but HMRC refused to elaborate on why the trustees had been arrested. A transfer went ahead – along with 115 others – while HMRC sat back in the full knowledge that all these victims would be bound to face unauthorised payment tax charges.

In the Ark case, HMRC spoke to the organisers and promoters (including Stephen Ward) of the six Ark schemes on several occasions. They then had a meeting with Craig Tweedley and Ward in February 2011 to discuss their concerns that the 50% “loans” paid out to scheme members constituted unauthorised payments. At this point there was a “mere” £7 million worth of transfers. Nothing was done to suspend the Ark schemes for another three months – during which time a further £20 million was transferred in. HMRC is now trying to tax both the members and the scheme for unauthorised payments.

In the full knowledge that Stephen Ward was behind Ark and numerous other scams, HMRC ignored evidence of his pension trustee/administrator firm – Dorrixo Alliance. In May 2014, they discussed prosecuting Ward, but did nothing about the London Quantum pension scam, and in August of the same year, a police officer lost his police pension to Ward’s scheme.

Therefore, HMRC takes 1st place, due to its downright lack of motivation to help stop the scams, yet speedy tax demands fly out for the unauthorised payments arising from the so-called “loans” operated from the very schemes that HMRC themselves registers.

Furthermore, HMRC taxes the victims of pension liberation scams – and not the perpetrators.

List of 10 deadliest parasites borrowed from listverse website for comparison.

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As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.

February 18, 2018
Be safe with PensionBee!

Having focused very much on bad pension investments, pension scams and how to avoid them, I´d like to talk a bit about PensionBee, a relatively new pension provider.

PensionBee offers the service of consolidating all your pension funds into one online fund. You are able to check your balance at any time and have a personal “Bee keeper” assigned to your account. The firm’s annual fees range from only 0.5% – 0.95% – significantly lower than the industry average.

Having explored PensionBee´s website, they are bright, modern and have a 9.2 out of 10 on trust pilot – not bad! You can use the PensionBee pension calculator to set a retirement goal and top up your savings to get on track. In our fast-paced, ever-changing online society, this is ideal for the busy working person.

Sounds great doesn´t it? Unfortunately, other pension providers wouldn´t agree, and it seems Aegon (formerly Scottish Equitable) isn´t impressed by their new competitor. Henry Tapper’s blog, ´PensionBee stands up to the bullies´ address the issue that Aegon are taking 38 days for a pension transfer to PensionBee. (The standard transfer time should be just 12 days). Fortunately, PensionBee is taking none of it, check out their video on “how to transfer your pension away from Aegon”.

In fact, Henry writes, ´Since 8 June 2017, customers wishing to transfer out of Aegon to PensionBee have faced barriers to switching, including multiple discharge forms, telephone calls and repetitive requests for information that has already been provided. There are various other steps that impede the customer’s right to switch pension provider easily (please see here). The average transfer out of Aegon for completed transfers now takes c.54 days – although the true scale of detriment remains unknown, since many people have been unable to overcome the barriers placed in front of them by Aegon in their attempts to switch or have simply given up.´

Upon doing some more digging I found that Professional Adviser, reported that nearly 900 customers were in fact ´stuck´ between Aegon and PensionBee. Going on to say, “So far, the longest transfer that has successfully completed is 176 days, or nearly six months.”

What we at Pension Life are struggling to grasp is, Why now?

Since 2011 big pension companies such as Aegon, Standard Life, Scottish Widows etc, have made transferring out of their pension scheme relatively easy. Even after the Scorpion campaign, which raised awareness about pension scams, these pension providers continued to release funds to bogus schemes. They have enabled the pension scammers to profit whilst the victims ended up being financially ruined.

In the Capita Oak scam – distributed by XXXX XXXX, promoted by Phillip Nunn and administered by Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions – Aegon was one of the leading offending ceding providers. Aegon handed over at least 13 transfers totalling £263,271.71. Then, in the Westminster pension scam, Aegon was still up there with the worst offenders, facilitating a further eight transfers totalling at least £253,305.63.

In neither Capita Oak nor Westminster, did Aegon question why both schemes had the same sponsoring employer: R. P. Medplant (Cyprus). Nor did Aegon establish whether the schemes were genuine occupational schemes. They just handed over the transfers without heed to the Pensions Regulator’s dire Scorpion warning.

But now Aegon appears to be resisting genuine, bona fide transfers. When victims complained to Aegon about the callous and negligent manner in which pensions were handed over to the scammers, Aegon failed to uphold the complaints and refused to pay any compensation. And this despite the fact that many of the transfers were made AFTER the publication of the Scorpion warning.

I wonder – is this change due to a weight on their conscience or do they realise that PensionBee could possibly be the new long-term market competitor? A real threat to their business. PensionBee is modern, clear, fresh and online – appealing to the technology savvy generation. With the introduction of pension freedoms in 2015, savers are looking to find new alternatives with their new choices.

FTAdviser reports:

Figures published by Mercer in April showed that as much as £50bn has been pulled from final salary pension schemes in the last two years.

Fortunately, the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) is aware of these issues and has created a work group to enable transferring members a faster outcome. This will hopefully make transferring pensions to legitimate schemes much easier.

As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.

February 18, 2018
NOT SO SQUARE MILE – AND FAR FROM LILLY WHITE

John (Gus) Ferguson’s firm, Square Mile International, is clearly not exactly square – and Lillywhite is a grubby shade of black.

For once, I don’t have to write a blog myself – as Mr. Ferguson of Square Mile has written it for me. I did, however, have to resist the temptation to correct Fatty’s appalling grammar and spelling.

Fatty’s partner in crime is, of course, “adviser” David Vilka – who put retail, UK-domiciled victims into QROPS and then invested most or all of their pensions in Nunn and McCreesh’s toxic, illiquid, high-risk Blackmore Global fund.

So, if you have ever wondered how to promote unregulated toxic crap to pension savers, read on…..

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From: John Ferguson [mailto:jf@lillywhiteint.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 5 August, 2015 8:36 PM
Cc: Charlie Goldsmith <C.Goldsmith@curzoncapital.com>
Subject: Re: follow on……………….

Hi – yes good to meet you too, and glad you had a safe trip back.

As you said it would have perhaps been nice to have longer with you and we both felt there was areas in which we could work together and once we are all back from our various holidays no doubt we will be looking at ideas that we could explore together.

We intend to be in Dubai at end of November and have a busy schedule (already) so wouldn’t be able (this time) to build in a HK detour but if you are able to be in Dubai that time then perhaps it could be a good opportunity to spend longer discussing opportunities.

The relationships with our Introducers as we explained is relatively straight forward but to recap – Lillywhite International acts as a ‘hub’ co-ordinating the flow of business between ‘introducers’ (unregulated and unauthorised entities such as Manish’s operation) who are often looking to fund their own product (again such as Manish and Christianson) and the regulated IFA firms, and the Pension Trustees.

I think confusion probably lies in that historically GFS could take direct business or business from unregulated firms. In the UK for some years now, it has not been possible for a firm such as Manish’s or Aspinal Chase etc to give advice, get information from a ceding scheme, submit business to a QROPS or to earn fees from anything that could constitute ‘a regulated activity’ under the FSMA.

Lillywhites controls a number of regulated IFA firms, and has string links with Life Offices (providing bond wrappers) and Trustees (providing QROPS).

We offer a service to the Manish’s / Aspinal Chase’s of the world and our IFA’s will sign off the business, provide the advice, deal with the pension and invest a proportion of the fund into the investments these introducers are trying to raise subscriptions on. We have bespoke Bond arrangements at NIL commission to comply with RDR in the UK, and the funds don’t pay the IFA any commissions – again to comply with RDR.

In terms of fees etc, I’m sure in the same way your agreements are private we have various agreements with our introducers and they are confidential.

So as i said relatively open and simple relationship – nothing can be submitted to our panel of QROPS without being signed off by our IFAs and so EVERY piece of business you receive from these guys is actually via a Lillywhites Adviser – The majority will be via either Aktiva Wealth Management or Square Mile International.

Where i do think we could have a very serious chat is using your distribution in Asia for a couple of funds that we can split the distribution fees with you on, and thats definitely where id like to have a further discussion. our two main brands are www.atsgfunds.com and www.lillywhiteint.com

Speak soon

Gus

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As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.

February 14, 2018
What is a Pension Scam?
There are many different types of pension scam – just as there are many types of genuine pension scheme. This can sometimes make it difficult to tell the difference so we are her to help you inform you about, what is a pension scam.

Fortunately, there are some common tell-tale signs that mean you could spot a scam and avoid it:
- Cold calling: always be suspicious of a cold caller. This can come as a text, phone call, email or even a smart-looking individual at your door!
  - Some cold callers may even imply that they are from the government or another government-backed organisation.
  - THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN!
- Hard sell: when your smart-looking/sounding “adviser” won’t take “no” for an answer and pressurises you into an on-the-spot decision
- No land-line contact phone number: the only contact they give consists of an email, mobile or PO Box address
- Use of words like ‘pension liberation’, ‘loan’, ‘loophole’, ‘free pension review’ or ‘one-off investment’
- Unrealistic claims:
  - You can unlock your pension before 55
  - Promises of tax advantages
  - investment is ‘unique’, ‘overseas’, ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘ethical’ or in a ‘new’ industry
- Low risk but high return investments (THEY DON’T EXIST!!)
What the scammers don’t tell you is that taking any part of your pension early (before 55 years of age) DOES result in tax charges. These charges can be up to 55% of the amount you take – even if you were told it was a “loan”.

With HMRC on your back for this tax demand, it will be hard to remember the pleasure of the money you received. Plus, whilst you are distracted with your tax demand from HMRC, it is likely that the rest of your pension fund is taking a nasty tumble.

Pension scams can involve various types of pension arrangements from QROPS and QNUPS to occupational schemes and SIPPS. These arrangements are not, in their own right, bad. However, if they are used for unsuitable investments, they most certainly can be. Know about these investments means you will know about what is a pension scam.

The investments inside the schemes can range from high-risk, professional-investor-only structured notes to toxic, illiquid, risky UCIS funds (Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme – illegal to be promoted to UK residents). Whilst these types of investments are not illegal in their own right, they are only suitable for certain people with deep pockets and sound investment experience. Or, alternatively, they are totally unsuitable for pension funds – full stop.

When taking advice on transferring your pension fund you should always ensure the adviser you choose is either based in the UK OR in the country you reside/plan to reside in. Alternatively, you must make sure the adviser is regulated and qualified for pension and investment advice in the jurisdiction where you reside.

Some of the pension scams that we are aware of are Ark, Capita Oak, Evergreen QROPS, Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme, Westminster, Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund, Continental Wealth Management (CWM), London Quantum. The underlined scams are being investigated by the FCA.

The 5 pointers from the Pension Regulator are:
1. If you think you’ve been scammed – act immediately
2. Cold called about your pension? Hang up!
3. 3. Deals ‘too good’ to be true
4. 4. Using an adviser? Make sure they’re registered with the FCA
5. 5. Don’t let a friend talk you into an investment – check everything yourself
For more details please see their web page

Image from https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/scamproof-your-savings-mar15

If you’ve already signed something you’re now unsure about, contact your pension provider straight away. They might be able to stop a transfer that hasn’t taken place yet.

If you think you’ve been targeted by an investment scam, please report it to the FCA using their reporting form.

If you have lost money to a suspected investment fraud, you should report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at www.ActionFraud.police.uk.

The FCA has launched a new campaign ScamSmart.

If you have doubts about what to do, ask The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) for help. Call them on 0300 123 1047 or visit the TPAS website for free pensions advice and information.

Beware of being targeted in the future, particularly if you lost money to a scam. Fraudulent companies might take advantage of this and offer to help you get some or all of your money back.

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With out due diligence and knowledge you often won´t realise that you are the victim of a pension scam until its too late. Its best to have the knowledge so you can tell what is a pension scam and what is a genuine pension scheme.

Therefore, Pension Life has written a series of blogs about pensions, pension scammers and how to safe guard your pension fund from fraudsters. Please make sure you read as many as possible and ensure you know everything you should about your pension fund. If we can educated the masses about pension fraud we can stop the scammers in their tracks – worldwide.

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Here at Pension Life we are noticing a new type of pension scam – Fractional Scamming – please read our blog about this type of scam.

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February 8, 2018
Why are so many working people losing their pension funds?

Debbie Abrahams takes a stand in parliament, raising the question of, “how many more pensions scandals does she (Esther McVey, Secretary of State, Work and Pensions) need before she introduces the robust regulatory oversight needed to protect peoples’ pensions for the future?“

Debbie Abrahams (pictured) has been a Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth since her by-election victory in January 2011. Debbie was a member of the Work & Pensions Select Committee from June 2011-March 2015 , where she led the call for an independent inquiry into the Government’s punitive New Sanctions Regime. In June 2016 she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

During Work & Pensions Questions, Debbie stated “100´s of 1000´s of ordinary working people have lost half of their retirement income.” Mentioning British Steel Pension Schemes (BSPS), Carillion, BHS and Capita, she goes on to highlight the government´s failure in tackling pensions governance.

BSPS were pushed into the Pension Protection Fund, the government lifeboat for failed schemes in December 2017. 122,000 members were given just months to make the decision of where to go with their precious pension funds. They had the choice to stay with the scheme, join a new one with reduced benefits set up by Tata Steel, or transfer to a personal pension plan. The Guardian reports further on this stating that, “those who do not make a decision will default into the PPF.”

The Independent released an article about the collapse of Carillion: Carillion was put into liquidation in January 2018 after racking up debts of around £900m and a pension deficit thought to be at least £587m.

The collapse of Carillion has left hundreds of workers redundant and their pension funds in tatters.

BHS had 19,000 members and a combined £571m deficit when the company went into administration in April 2016. Again reported by The Guardian, we can at least be thankful that:
Domonic Chappell is being prosecuted by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in the latest fallout from the demise of BHS, which he bought for £1 from retail tycoon Sir Philip Green in 2015.

With all this pension turmoil, the path is paved with gold for the serial pension scammers, such as ex CWM employees.

The Financial Times reported that: The Financial Conduct Authority is investigating allegations that steelworkers at Tata UK’s plant in Port Talbot were being targeted by unscrupulous pension transfer advisers. British Steel pension fund trustees have received requests for around 11,000 quotes for pension transfers. With promises of low risk and high returns on the investments, who knows how many peope have fallen victim to these vultures already?

We at Pension Life would also like to know why the government has not put in place tighter regulations on pensions to combat pension scammers. New laws need to be introduced so hard working and trusting citizens aren’t left with decimated pension funds.

We can at least be thankful that the SFO and the Pensions Regulator are pushing forward at the High Court and bringing some pension scammers to justice.

February 7, 2018
Say NO to structured notes for pensions!

Structured notes – say NO to them if an adviser wants to invest your pension in them. They are high-risk investments which are for professional investors ONLY – and not for ordinary retail investors – especially pensions.

Say NO to structured notes for pensions!

Structured notes have been used as pension investments for some years. Many advisers don’t understand them – and certainly, no retail pension investors understand them either. Structured notes are definitely not the low risk, high return investments originally promised – and the capital is NOT protected as claimed by some advisers.

As in the above example, it is a disgrace that structured note providers such as Commerzbank, Nomura, RBC and Leonteq have allowed their toxic products to be used for retail pension savers. Even when these rotten products have nosedived repeatedly, these dishonest and dishonourable providers keep on flogging them to destroy victims’ retirement savings.

Along with the rogue advisers – such as the scammers from Holborn Assets and Continental Wealth Management – and the rogue structured note providers, there are also rogue insurance companies who accept these toxic, high-risk, professional-investor-only investments. These insurers know full well that accepting these notes will doom the policyholders to poverty in retirement, but they don’t care. Some of the worst of these “life offices” are Old Mutual International, SEB, and Generali. These companies are no better than scammers and really should be called “death offices” since they effectively kill off thousands of victims’ life savings with their extortionate charges.

Commerzbank, Nomura, RBC and Leonteq all claim to be “award winning and innovative companies” and yet they show zero compassion to the victims who lose huge proportions of their retirement savings. The structured note providers keep paying commissions to the scammers – ranging from 6% to 8% of the investments. And then, when the structured notes go belly up, they simply sell more of the same toxic rubbish to the same scammers in an attempt to further ruin the victims.

So what the hell are structured notes? And why should investors say NO to them?

A structured note is an IOU from an investment bank that uses derivatives to create exposure to one or more investments. For example, you can have a structured note betting on the S&P 500 Price Index, the Emerging Market Price Index, or both. The combinations are almost limitless.

Say NO to structured notes for pensions!

Structured notes are frequently peddled by less-scrupulous financial advisers – as well as outright scammers – as a “high-yield, low-risk” supposedly backdoor way to own stocks. However, regulators have warned that investors can get burned – which they frequently do. If the investment banks can flog it, they will make just about any toxic cocktail you can dream up. In reality, a structured note is an unsecured debt issued by a bank or brokerage firm – and the amount of money the investor might (or might not) get back is pegged to the performance of stocks or broad market indexes.

Read more: Structured Notes: Buyer Beware!

On the surface, the ‘cocktails’ the structured note providers make seems like they could generate a great return. However, the truth is they often benefit the financial adviser rather than the investors.

Structured notes are suitable for professional investors only – and the fact sheets issued by the providers state this clearly. Whilst they do offer high returns if successful, they are also high risk with no protection on the amount invested. Structured notes should not be used for pensions.

Continental Wealth Management(CWM) invested over a thousand low to medium risk clients’ retirement savings in structured notes – mostly provided by Commerzbank, Nomura, RBC and Leonteq. These clients now have seriously decimated funds and are worried sick. But Commerzbank, Nomura, RBC and Leonteq have shown neither remorse for their toxic, high-risk, illiquid products nor concern for the hundreds of victims.

OMI (Quilter), Generali and SEB have also been totally disinterested in the thousands of failed structured notes they have facilitated. Indeed they are even charging the victims crippling early exit penalties when they decide to get out of the expensive and pointless insurance bonds which are further eating into the remaining funds.

Most structures notes have no guarantee, so their worth often depreciates to less than the paper they are printed on. Much like a bet at the races, if you bet £10 on Noble Nag to win in the 2.30 at Kempton Park at ten to one, you are guaranteed to win £100 if the horse wins. But if the horse doesn’t win, you say goodbye to your money.

Most structured notes are dressed up to look appealing to the uninformed victim. But in reality they are high risk and illiquid and can result in total decimation of a victim’s life savings. The advisors rarely disclose the commissions they are earning from the purchase of the structured notes (or from the insurance bond). Plus, once the structured notes start showing a serious loss, the adviser just dismisses this as “only a paper loss”. As the advisors have already taken their cut, they are rarely bothered if this high-risk investment does lose the client money.

So if you hear the term ‘structured note’ in connection with your retirement fund, just say ‘NO’. The only people profiting from this type of investment are the advisers.

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As always, Pension Life would like to remind you that if you are planning to transfer any pension funds, make sure that you are transferring into a legitimate scheme. To find out how to avoid being scammed, please see our blog:

What is a pension scam?

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.

January 27, 2018
QUILTER – A NEW HOBBY FOR OMI?

Quilter – Old Mutual International – new name to try to hide past crimes

QUILTER – A NEW HOBBY FOR OMI? OMI – Old Mutual International – needs to compensate thousands of victims of financial crime which they facilitated. I can’t make up my mind whether they are adopting the brand “Quilter” to attempt to shake off their sordid and toxic past, or whether they are actually taking up quilting.

If OMI really is going to become a quilter, it needs to make a quilt depicting all the criminals whose crimes it has facilitated for so many years. And all the victims who have lost part of or all of their life savings.

What OMI really needs to do is to get firmly behind the prosecution of the criminals – from whom they profited for many years. OMI must contribute to the cost of denouncing these criminals and ensuring they are given maximum prison sentences.

Also, OMI – Old Mutual – must stop allowing toxic, professional-investor-0nly structured notes in their bonds. Typically, these were provided by Commerzbank, Nomura, Leonteq and RBC. If Old Mutual International wants to gamble away its own money on these crap products, then be my guest. But don’t expose retail pension savers to these sordid, high-risk instruments – used by the scammers as mere tiles in a game of Scrabble.

Thanks to IFA Al Rush, there is now a criminal investigation into the hordes of vultures who preyed on the British Steelworkers. This has been eloquently reported by Henry Tapper in his blog about the police investigation at Port Talbot.

Al Rush championing the British Steelworkers who have been scammed

Al Rush has suggested the wording which victims can use to report those who scammed – or attempted to scam – them. And all of what Al and his colleagues have done has been done at their own expense and out of a sense of decency.

Hard to tell the difference between OMI and Quilter and Jabba The Hut

This is in stark and stinky contrast to OMI – Old Mutual International. Since 2011, OMI has sat and watched – like a cross between Jabba The Hut and a Black Widow Spider – while thousands of victims have seen their life savings dwindle away to very little or even nothing. And all the while, taking extortionate fees and paying commissions to the very scammers who ruined the victims in the first place.

So does OMI really think that adopting the name “Quilter” will make future victims fail to make the connection – that this is the same firm that took business from dozens of unregulated scammers such as Continental Wealth Management, Abbey Financial Solutions, Holborn Assets, Guardian Wealth Management, and other “chiringuitos”?

Perhaps the worst crime committed by OMI is not that they took business from unlicensed scammers; not that they allowed 100% of victims’ pension funds to be invested in professional-investor-only, high-risk structured notes; not that they sat there idly and negligently while the clients’ pensions and investments shrank inexorably……

Old Mutual International – the rubbish end of financial services

the worst of OMI’s crimes has been that when there are only a few crumbs left of a life-time’s retirement savings, they will still charge crippling early-exit penalties. OMI, or Skandia, or Quilter or Jabba The Hut or whatever the hell this toxic, evil shower call themselves, have no place in financial services. They have facilitated and profited from financial crime for years and benefited from the misery and ruin of thousands of victims.

In an attempt to emulate Al Rush’s suggested police report for British Steel victims at the hands of the various scammers who targeted, stalked and scammed them, here is my suggested report for OMI victims to make to the police and the regulators. Naturally, this will work equally well for victims of Generali, SEB, RL360, Friends Provident, Hansard, Investors Trust etc.

OMI must be sanctioned for facilitating financial crime

‘I was advised to transfer out of my personal/occupational (delete as appropriate) pension scheme and was lied to when I asked about how much money would be taken from me. I think, over time especially, I will lose/have already lost many tens of thousands of pounds (probably, hundreds of thousands of pounds) in fees which were hidden from me.

This will bleed my pot dry, leave me exposed to poverty in old age and create a burden on the local council.

I was specifically told there would be no penalties or lock-in periods.

Can you help me please, I would like to make a formal statement and help you bring charges against those who did this, and those who helped them’.

January 20, 2018
OMI? OMG! SAME OLD, SAME OLD MUTUAL – SAME OLD LIES
Old Mutual International (OMI) is at the heart of much of what is wrong with offshore financial services. The CWM debacle clearly evidences this.

OMI, formerly Skandia and soon to be Quilter, provided the vehicle used to wipe out thousands of victims’ life savings – not only in the CWM scam, but also with many other rogue financial advisers (often referred to by the Spanish regulator as “chiringuitos”).

OMI (Old Mutual International) is used as a bogus life assurance policy to “wrap” dodgy investments which subsequently nose dive and destroy portfolios.

The so-called “life wrapper” serves absolutely no purpose from the investors’ point of view, other than to pay exorbitant fees to OMI and the adviser (which is often not licensed to provide either insurance or investment advice). These fees, of course, mean that the victims’ pensions and investments never have a hope in hell of growing – or even maintaining their original value.

High-risk, illiquid, professional-investor-only structured notes bought with the victims’ retirement savings by rogue advisers (such as Continental Wealth Management – CWM) frequently fail – and sometimes are even fraudulent – so bring victims’ funds crashing down even further. In the case of the CWM debacle, the structured notes were mostly Commerzbank, Nomura, RBC and Leonteq, and many of the notes crashed – costing the victims millions of pounds.

OMI charged the victims the following fees:
- Regular Management Charge 1.15% for ten (yes – TEN!) years
- Admin Charge Eur 144.00 annually
- Early Surrender Charge 11.5% – reducing by 1.15% a year to nil after ten years
But did OMI do any actual “management”? No. They never monitored the losses, alerted the investors or offered to do anything to help stem the hemorrhaging of victims’ funds. OMI just sat there like a lazy, greedy, callous parasite and watched the victims’ retirement savings dwindle. OMI must have known that this would be condemning thousands of people to poverty in retirement and yet they obviously did not care two hoots.

Did they do any actual “admin”? Yes. They reported the losses and ever-shrinking funds. But they took no action to help the thousands of victims or prevent further losses.

Was it reasonable to tie victims into a useless, pointless insurance bond for ten years? After all, the bond clearly offered no protection or guarantee of the capital invested. And was it right to charge 11.5% for the privilege of losing huge proportions of the funds? No, absolutely not. In law, a pension scheme member has a right to transfer and needs the flexibility to alter their pension arrangements whenever they need to. Being tied into a useless and expensive insurance bond FOR TEN YEARS is the last thing a retirement saver needs.

In the wake of this appalling tragedy, what has OMI done to put things right?

Has OMI offered to pay compensation to the victims?

NOPE

Has OMI offered to rebate its (extortionate) charges?

NOPE

Has OMI offered to waive the punitive exit fees for those who want to try to rescue what’s left?

NOPE

Has OMI lowered the 25% barrier so that ruined and desperate victims can access some income to avoid starving to death?

NOPE

Has OMI learned anything whatsoever from the CWM debacle? Has it turned over a new leaf and stopped accepting business from unlicensed scammers such as CWM? Has it stopped making exorbitant charges which drag retirement savings down? Has it stopped paying huge commissions to scammers to encourage them to destroy thousands of victims life savings? Has it stopped allowing and promoting toxic structured notes?

The answer to all of the above is a resounding NO. OMI knew exactly what terrible fate it was condemning the victims to for the past seven years.

OMI knew that the victims could face losing significant parts of their retirement savings – and stood by while it happened. Well, not exactly just stood by – they made huge profits in the process.

Has OMI learned anything from this tragedy? Has it turned over a new leaf? Absolutely not. In November 2017, it was still offering – and even aggressively pushing – structured notes to financial advisers and offering meaty commissions – obviously trying to replicate the huge success it made out of the Continental Wealth Management scam. On 30th November 2017, OMI sent out a bulk email to advisers:

From: Old Mutual International mail: intmarketing@engage.omwealth.com]

Dear Greedy Broker, HURRY HURRY HURRY! SPECIAL OFFER ON STRUCTURED NOTES TO FLOG TO UNSUSPECTING VICTIMS. GET YOUR RUNNING SHOES ON – THIS OFFER CLOSES 15TH DECEMBER 2017. WE NEED MORE UNSUSPECTING MUGS LIKE THE CWM VICTIMS SO WE CAN MAKE MORE HUGE PROFITS AND CONDEMN MORE PEOPLE TO POVERTY IN RETIREMENT.

“The latest, tranche of structured products provided by BNP Paribas is available now through our portfolio bonds. But you don’t have long to get business in – this tranche will now close on 15th December 2017.

The products on offer during this tranche are:

Global Equity Income 5 – with a five year term paying quarterly income of 6% a year in USD or 5% a year in GBP – capital at risk product

Global Equity Autocall 9 – autocall product with a six year term paying 10% a year in USD or 8.25% a year in GBP – capital at risk product

Multi-Asset Diversified Global Certificate 10 – with a five year term and 100% capital protection

Full details, including how to access the products, are on our dedicated structured products page.”

Notes pay initial commission of 5.88% to Old Mutual of which 4.69% is paid to the adviser. OMI pockets 1.19%. No wonder OMI are pushing this!

The BNP Paribas “handbook” spouts the same old same old rubbish that CWM was using to con around 1,000 victims out of their retirement savings between 2011 and 2017:

“Structured Products are investments that are fully
customised to meet specific objectives such as capital
protection, diversification, yield enhancement, leverage,
regular income, tax/regulation optimisation and
access to non-traditional asset classes, amongst others.
The strength of a Structured Product lies in its
flexibility and tailored investment approach.
In their simplest form, Structured Products offer
investors full or partial capital protection coupled
with an equity-linked performance and a variable
degree of leverage. They are commonly used as a
portfolio enhancement tool to increase returns
while limiting the risk of loss of capital.”

The hundreds of CWM victims know that this is all lies: with structured notes, there is no capital protection; no flexibility; no portfolio enhancement; no increased returns and no limit to the risk of loss of capital. Shame on BNP Paribas for helping OMI to dupe more victims into losing their retirement savings and facing financial ruin.

So, the message to the public is:

DON’T TOUCH OMI – OLD MUTUAL INTERNATIONAL – WITH A BARGEPOLE

DON’T TOUCH STRUCTURED NOTES IN GENERAL WITH A BARGEPOLE

DON’T TOUCH STRUCTURED NOTES BY BNP PARIBAS WITH A BARGEPOLE

DON’T BELIEVE THE LIES TOLD BY ROGUE FINANCIAL ADVISERS, OMI OR BNP PARIBAS

DON’T BECOME ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE INSURANCE BOND/STRUCTURED NOTE SCAM

Lastly, OMI’s self-congratulating rubbish on their website crows about their “customer principles” and the many awards they have won. An example of this is the following statement:

Giving good service to financial advisers and their clients is at the heart of our business. We work hard to constantly improve our standards in this area. Our track record speaks for itself.

And yes, OMI’s track record does speak for itself – and anyone who does even the most basic maths will inevitably say “Oh My God!”.

And BNP Paribas’ claim that “a Structured Product lies” sums it all up nicely.
January 7, 2018
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November 7, 2017