Tag: paul clarke

CWM Criminal Case and Business Plan

As we reach the halfway point in the criminal trial of the Continental Wealth Management and Premier Pension Solutions companies, I regret I am unable to give a detailed update on the case at this point. The first half of the eight defendants have been cross examined by the judge’s lawyer, and the second batch of four further defendants are due to be cross examined on 7th April 2020 (in the Denia Court of First Instruction).

This, of course, assumes there is no disruption to the proceedings caused by the Corona virus lockdown.

The first “batch” consisted of Patrick Kirby – Darren Kirby’s brother – who ran the CWM cold calling operation which sent so many hundreds of victims to their doom; Anthony Downs; Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway who had various different titles at different times – ranging from Managing Director to Operations Director to Investment Director.

I can’t comment on the transcripts of the questions and answers on 24th and 25th February, and won’t be able to publish the full details of all cross examinations until all the defendants have appeared before the judge. The defendants on 7th April will be:

Jody Smart – sole director and shareholder who paid herself over 1 million Euros in the last two years of the life of CWM – the money being paid into her two other businesses: property company Mercurio and fashion design company Jody Bell. In addition, she also paid money into her Grant A Wish “charity” and drew a hefty salary.
Paul Clarke – founder of the original CWM company in partnership with Darren Kirby; Clarke left a year later to run AES International Spain, where he scammed more victims out of their life savings with expensive, unnecessary, illegally-sold insurance bonds, and high-risk structured notes – all sold for the fat commissions (despite the even fatter losses suffered by the victims). He also advised two victims to go into Stephen Ward’s Ark scam. Clarke now runs a firm called Roebuck Wealth and has scrubbed the internet of all trace of his history.
Darren Kirby – founder along with Clarke and ultimate controller of the whole CWM operation throughout. Kirby made every attempt to divest himself of all legal responsibility for CWM. He gave away his shares in the company to his business/civil partner Jody Smart, and some of his employees. However, all the defendants (as well as victims) are bound to confirm Darren Kirby was the ultimate boss and controlling mind of the company.
Stephen Ward – owner of Premier Pension Solutions SL. He was the person who signed off all the CWM clients’ pension transfers (for a fat fee). He knowingly condemned all pension holders whose transfers he signed off to inevitable partial or total loss. He was fully aware of CWM’s modus operandi as he himself used a similar investment model to that of CWM (and had taught them how to do it). Ward was routinely investing his own clients’ funds in a toxic, disloyal and irresponsible manner which was as bad – and sometimes even worse – than in the CWM cases.

As soon as I can publish the cross examination transcripts and further directions, I will do so.

This landmark Continental Wealth Management criminal case will inevitably shine a much-needed spotlight on the issue of offshore financial services generally. CWM was just one example (albeit an extreme one) of an international financial services culture which generally disadvantages and/or defrauds consumers. The cause of this culture is a combination of the obsession with the insurance bond cartel: OMI, SEB, Generali, RL360 et al; the total reliance on (hidden) commission; the practice of churning (investing the same sum of money as often as possible to generate as much commission as possible) and the view that the client’s money and interests are secondary to the adviser’s.

CWM victims outside the Denia Criminal Court on 25.2.2020 waiting for Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway to finish being questioned on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.

Most victims – whether parties to the criminal proceedings or not – are aware of the demise of CWM in September 2017. The company was slowly dying because of the number of victims the CWM scammers had ruined: the word was getting out (which was bad for business) so the victims who shouted loudest were getting paid off. This was having a seriously detrimental effect on CWM’s cashflow.

The financial strain on the business was, however, made even worse by the fact that every last bit of spare cash in the CWM bank account was being used to keep Jody Smart in houses, frilly frocks, shoes and champagne. In 2017, the CWM bank statements show 158,614 EUR was transferred into her Mercurio property company bank account, and 123,400 EUR into her Jody Bell fashion design company bank account. But this was significantly down on the previous year: 386,921 EUR to Mercurio and 164,000 EUR to Jody Bell. The year before, 2015, 124,500 EUR into Mercurio and 39,000.00 into Jody Bell fashion. That’s almost 1 million EUR in two years pocketed by Jody – not counting the money paid into her Grant A Wish “charity” and her generous “salary”.

During the same period, however, the revenue was at least 3,391,876.28 EUR in commissions from insurance bonds and structured notes. On top of this was a substantial amount of extra secret commission from the ultra-high-risk Leonteq structured notes, plus whatever Darren Kirby could con out of victims such as Mark Davison (who subsequently died penniless) and the other claimants pursuing Kirby and CWM through the criminal court in Denia in separate proceedings which pre-date our Pension Life proceedings.

Looking back to the dying days of CWM when cashflow was slowly grinding to a halt as the company was paying out compensation to some of the worst-affected victims (and any remaining cash was being spent by Jody Smart on first-class flights to New York and champagne in five-star hotels – despite her claim to be working 24/7 on her Grant A Wish charity), there was a plan to “reinvent” and re-launch CWM. It eventually dawned on the CWM scammers that they couldn’t scam enough new victims quickly enough to pay out all the existing victims – so the answer was to start afresh with a brand new approach. The new approach was essentially the same as the old approach – except they aimed to sell more “products” and ruin more victims.

The rest is history and CWM collapsed at the end of September 2017 – when all related parties withdrew terms of business. It is worth taking a careful look at the business plan which CWM had been intending to use to re-launch the business. This plan makes it clear that this was an unlicensed, insurance bond sales outfit which intended to continue to operate in contravention of the Spanish insurance regulations. If you read the plan carefully, you will see that CWM operating model was always based on a high-pressure sales target which ignored the interests of the clients (victims).

CWM’s promotion had always been centered around the iniquitous cold call – but in addition the business plan reveals that Jody Smart’s Grant A Wish “charity” events had been used to “harvest” potential victims at scamming sales parties posing as bona fide fundraising efforts.

Read the below CWM “Relaunch Business Plan” carefully and you will see how the scam works. If a victim transfers a £100,000 pension, it will fall in value in the hands of CWM to £91,976,000 by the end of year 1. This means the first year fees would have totalled £4,000 set up fee plus £1,000 annual management fee to CWM; £1,490 QROPS fee; £1,534 to fee OMI. It is interesting that Stogsdill has made the assumption in the plan that all clients will be put into an OMI bond – long before they’ve even met the client and found out if they actually need an insurance bond (which they never do as they are too expensive and lock investors in for up to ten years).

The CWM “plan” shows how a victim’s fund could recover back up to £97,495 if it grows by 6%. But this doesn’t take into account the investment costs of between 5% and 8% – so that was never going to happen. So Dean Stogsdill of CWM – despite all the lessons which should have been learned from years of destroying victims’ funds, still fully intended to keep on doing the same to as many new victims as possible.

Continental Wealth Management Business Plan 2017 (by Dean Stogsdill)

Continental Wealth Management is an independent financial advice firm specialising in wealth management advice to English speaking expatriates throughout Europe – this statement is the key to CWM’s future success.

CWM must focus on expanding our circle of influence and create new business through strategic placement of data gatherers. We must take on the business of “hard targets”, created to allow the best we have to flourish, whilst removing the weaker members of the team by natural selection. This is not a system for solely the sales force, but for all aspects of the team including call centre operators, administration and directors.

CWM will have clear defined roles within the sales force with the addition of achievable, measurable targets on top of generous salaries which is the cornerstone of our payroll ethos. The business will flow from our Partners meaning the business can be closed efficiently and serviced by an experienced adviser who is well trained, knowledgeable and most importantly a “hungry individual”.

There is a simple calculation on £100,000.00:

£100,000 invested over 6 years in capital protected products will provide £6,250.00 in gross revenue.

£100,000 invested over 6 years in a fund yielding 3% per annum growth will provide £10,690 in gross revenue.

BACKGROUND

CWM is a financial services company founded in 2007 on the Costa Blanca. It is a company specialising in pension transfers, portfolio bonds, offshore investments and single premium investments. It is a non-regulated company which is owned and operated by the directors / shareholders and founder Darren Kirby. Recent investors are Timothy Benjamin, and Mark Davison with share capital having been distributed amongst these investors.

Directors / Shareholders

Founder / Majority Shareholder – Darren Kirby

Chairman – Neil Hathaway

CEO – Dean Stogsdill

COO – Anthony Downs

Key Personnel

Darren Kirby – He brings a wealth of experience in financial services with a keen head for figures and sales techniques. He has a strong view on the business and how it should be perceived by the clients, while strengthening our position through strategic investment decisions along with powerful leadership skills.

Neil Hathaway – Decades of experience in insurance and wealth management, he brings a strong personality and great sales skills with the qualifications to match. He is a knowledgeable asset to the management of the sales force and uses his skills to bring through the less experienced members of the team.

Dean Stogsdill – Strong sales record and up to date qualifications – he can sell at the most technical level and has a strong grasp of the investment market, regulation and products. Strong views on company direction.

Anthony Downs – Organised, driven and a sales record to match. He drives through the issuing business and captures all revenues and commissions in the most efficient manner. Anthony is key to the efficient stream of payments required for this business model.

Directors: Re-structure 2017

Darren Kirby

The final decision maker as majority shareholder means critical decisions will fall to him. A mandate to find new investors and revenue streams for CWM. An ambassadorial role and a creative thinker for the company, bringing fresh ideas on many aspects of the business both operational and non-operational.

Neil Hathaway

Key point of contact for the sales force. A remit to push the sales force to meet targets and close business. He will be in control of sales, possible bond lists as well as monitoring the business / LOA levels for each adviser. He will also have a key role in writing new business. This will be a target driven management position. All advisers will report directly to him.

Dean Stogsdill

Complete oversight of the business operationally with a close working relationship with the Chairman and COO. I will manage the company direction and overall development planning, strategies and high level management with department heads reporting directly to me. I will chair board meetings and deal with technical and regulatory planning. I will also be heavily involved in the efficient management of the investment book.

Anthony Downs

Full control of new business. A remit to drive through the revenues from written business to maximize the cashflow of the company. Target driven with targets based on company income needs, outstanding requirements and business written.

With the current admin levels and management restructure we should be able to easily handle up to 7 bonds per week, plus client after care, outstanding requirements, investment and re-investment. We do not hire any more administration in 2017. Although this will be adjusted if business levels exceed 7 bonds per week.

We are now a company where you perform, meet your target or you are replaced.

Of the 9 bond writers, we have 1 in France, 1 in Turkey, 1 in Portugal and the other 6 are in Spain. I believe that we need to build up the business levels so that 9 bond writers can meet a target of 30 bonds per man for the year or an average of 3 a month, based on a 10 month / 40-week year. This would mean a company wide total of 270 bonds, at our target average of €10,000 commission per bond that would mean turnover of 2.7 million plus trail of €300,000 meaning a total of €3,000,000 for 2017.

Call Centres – Cold calling with appointments made and revenue generated through call centres and call centres paid for on performance only.

Market history:

Historically we have concentrated on cold calling, Grant A Wish (“charity”) events, web videos, website and referrals from existing clients. The cold calling aspect is becoming more and more difficult and time consuming and other areas of marketing ourselves and our products must be found.

Competition – Blevins Franks; DeVere; Abbey Financial; Spectrum; Blacktower

Our average case size of £100,000 has costs associated with it as follows:

Opening
	Initial Single Premium	100,000
	Total	100,000

Charges	CWM
	Initial CWM Set Up Charge	4,000	–
			–
	QROPS Set Up Charge and Annual Fee	1,490
	OMI Annual Management Charge	1,150
	CWM Annual Management Charge	1,000
	OMI Annual Administration Charge (paid Quarterly)	384
Total Expenses	8,024	3,354

	Net	91,976
	Estimated Growth 6%	5,519

Year End Balance	97,495	99,789


		–	–
		–	–
		–	–
		–	–

Balance on Fund	97,495	99,789

This gives us a year 1 price point of 8.02% and an ongoing of 3.3%.

March 18, 2020

CWM Criminal Trial 24th February 2020
The protagonists behind collapsed Spanish advisory firm CWM – Continental Wealth Management – will be on trial week commencing 24th February in the Denia Criminal Court of First Instruction.

This criminal matter will have enormous ramifications for similarly-affected victims, and for any advisory firms which have engaged in any of the same practices used by CWM. These illegal practices include the gratuitous selling of insurance bonds from bond providers such as OMI, SEB, RL360, Friends Provident and Generali; putting low-risk investors into commission-laden, high-risk investments; churning and concealment of backhanders; forged or copied client signatures on investment dealing instructions.

The routine “sale” of insurance bonds (whether the clients need them or not – which 99% of the time they don’t) is illegal in Spain. Undoubtedly this will be similar or identical in other jurisdictions. The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that insurance bonds are invalid for the purpose of holding investments. But still the scammers continue to flog them indiscriminately – purely for the fat commissions.

Insurance bond salesmanship has become one of the biggest, most widespread and toxic crimes across all expat territories – and now it must be outlawed by the ethical sector of the financial services market. And there is an ethical sector which abhors the toxic and dishonest practices which will be the subject of the CWM trial. There is also a “semi-ethical” sector which is genuinely ashamed that it too has carried out such practices, but which is determined to clean up it’s act and “go straight” from now on.

Make no mistake – the Denia Criminal Court is determined to clean up this stretch of the Costa Blanca in particular and Spain in general – as well as make an example out of the CWM scammers. Some of the CWM victims, as well as Ark and Capita Oak victims – and those financially ruined by both Stephen Ward and Paul Clarke – will be at the court hearings the week of 24th February. There will be local and international press coverage to highlight the importance of this significant event.

The defendants in the CWM case were served in early January. They are now compelled to come to court to be cross-examined by our lawyer. Each defendant will have his or her own legal representative and also a court-appointed translator. The cross examinations will take place privately in front of the judge, but a transcript of each one will be published subsequently. I will translate these transcripts and make them publicly available on the Pension Life website as soon as they are made available by the court.

The dates of the now compulsory court hearings are:
- Monday 24th February from 10 a.m.: Darren Kirby; Patrick Kirby and Anthony Downs
- Tuesday 25th February from 10 a.m.: Jody Smart, Neil Hathaway and Dean Stogsdill
- Friday 28th February from 10 a.m.: Stephen Ward and Paul Clarke
Darren Kirby did not show up for the last criminal trial – when he was accused of defrauding three victims out of their life savings in order to give him money to prop up the rapidly failing CWM and to pay money to his partner – Jody Smart – to invest in her fashion business: Jody Bell. One of the complainants in this previous case has since died.

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions has fled to Florida where he owns a portfolio of at least ten mortgage-free properties near Disneyland. However, he will not succeed in avoiding prosecution.

Sole director and shareholder of CWM, Jody Smart did turn up for the last criminal trial, so it is expected that she will probably attend this one. Smart will be keen to deflect blame from herself and claim that she was only a “nominee” director. However, in the last two years of operation, she paid herself 991,035.86 Eur (on top of her already more than generous director’s salary) – 670,035 Eur into her property company Mercurio Conpro and 321,000 Eur into her Jody Bell fashion business.

The remaining CWM defendants: Anthony Downs, Neil Hathaway, Dean Stogsdill and Paul Clarke are likely to turn up since they are all based in Spain and have families, property and businesses here.

CWM earned 3,391,876 Eur in commissions on sales of insurance bonds and structured notes in the last two years of operation. Scammers like CWM generally made at least 16% commission out of victims’ pensions and investments. This would mean that in this period, CWM scammed victims out of approximately 17,000,000 Eur. On top of his, the firm earned many hundreds of thousands from victims they cleaned out promising them shares in the company (which Darren Kirby had claimed was worth 10 million), properties and cars. But when the firm closed, the CWM bank account was virtually empty. This video will illustrate some of the appalling misery the CWM victims endured – and the extent to which Jody Smart benefited from the money stolen from the victims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlxu8YOaAM&t=3s

The following related entities have been asked to provide documentary evidence to support the complainants cases:

Inter Alliance, Globalnet, Trafalgar, Old Mutual International, SEB and Generali

This evidence will include copies of risk profiles and investment dealing instructions – bearing the forged investor signatures.

This criminal case has been brought by using 17 “lead” cases – victims of the CWM scam who have all lost considerable amounts of their life savings. These victims are now the lead complainants who also represent the interests of the further hundreds of victims who have suffered similar fates. The lead complainants have put an enormous amount of time, work and self-sacrifice towards this matter. Each complainant has had to re-live the horror of their suffering at the hands of CWM – telling their painful stories to our lawyer Antonio Bertomeu. Most of the lead complainants are based in the vicinity of Denia – where CWM committed the majority of the crimes. However, one complainant came all the way from Portugal.

I will be with Antonio Bertomeu the week before the trial as we prepare for the cross examination of the defendants in court during the week of 24th February. This is a crucial point in the proceedings as there has been a substantial amount of further evidence which has emerged since this complaint was originally filed in court in June 2019. There are also further defendants who will now need to be included in the proceedings.

The Denia court has stressed that this is an issue which is of great importance as it involves three serious criminal offences which are likely to involve substantial financial penalties and custodial sentences:
- Falsification of commercial documents
- Disloyal administration
- Continuous fraud
The outcome of this case will inevitably have far-reaching consequences for the industry globally – especially since the practices which are the subject of these criminal proceedings have been widely practised for a number of years. These crimes have not been exclusive to Continental Wealth Management and their associates. There are many victims beyond the clients of CWM who have suffered similar crippling investment losses. The scope of these criminal proceedings will now inevitably reach into other firms and jurisdictions.
January 29, 2020
Meghan and Harry’s New Challenge: Pension Scams
Meghan and Harry – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – are having a tough time (and are running away from home). Their sadness and confusion is because they have no purpose or passion in life. So I am offering them an interesting and satisfying challenge: taking on and championing the cause of pension scam victims. Harry’s Mum knew a thing or too about adopting worthy causes and had no problem jumping on a plane to far away, war-torn places full of the most appalling human suffering and landmines. Meghan and Harry don’t even have to travel as far as the airport to find victims whose cause desperately needs championing.

Poor Duke and Duchess of Sussex – what an awful time they’re having: posh clothes; flash cars; sumptuous “cottage” in Windsor Park. They needn’t be bored and aimless any longer. They can become patrons of the plight of the thousands of British citizens who have lost £ billions to pension and investment scams.

Just as the Late Princess Diana confronted the horrific dangers of land mines, Meghan and Harry can confront the huge tide of appalling human misery caused by scammers Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions; Paul Clarke of Roebuck Wealth; Dennis Radford of Spectrum IFA Group; Darren Kirby of CWM; Gus Ferguson and David Vilka of Square Mile; XXXX XXXX of Nationwide Benefit Consultants; Phill Pennick of Pennick Blackwell; Peter and Sara Moat of Fast Pensions; Paul Baxendale-Walker; Patrick McCreesh and Phillip Nunn of Blackmore Group; Paul Careless of Surge Group.

This is now becoming a very high-profile topic – especially in the light of the multiple, dismal failings of the FCA and a recent series of hard-hitting articles published by Tom Kelly of the Daily Mail. Kelly, an engaging and open-minded young man (who I am sure the Sussexes will like) has written about a wide array of pension and investment disasters which have befallen thousands of victims since 2010. I would urge Meghan and Harry to contact him: Tom’s email address is: Tom.Kelly@dailymail.co.uk and his editor’s address is: Geordie.greg@dailymail.co.uk

As the disillusioned Royals are bound to ask whether pension scam victims have anything to do with them (or whether they should even care about people who have lost their life savings or pensions), they might like to consider the following:
- If Frogmore Cottage catches fire, Meghan and Harry will have to call the Fire Brigade. The sumptuous property cost £2.4 million to refurbish to the highest possible standard, but even the best sparks do sometimes make the odd mistake. The Royals’ home – and even their lives – will be in the hands of the firemen. These brave firefighters will risk their own lives running into the burning building; then will rescue the people and (hopefully) save the building.
- If Meghan and Harry’s baby son Archie is unwell after inhaling smoke, they will rush him to hospital – where he will be tended to by nurses and doctors.
- If a therapeutic trip to Canada is required (to get over the upset of their home being damaged by fire), the plane will be flown by two pilots.
Pension and investment scammers target people from all works of life – including firemen, doctors, nurses and airline pilots. Next time the Sussexes place their hands into the lives of any of these professionals, they might like to consider whether these people are victims of scams and are worried sick about their financial losses.

Scammers don’t care what their victims do for a living: sparks, chippies, builders, gardeners, taxi and bus drivers, soldiers, care workers, architects, scientists, accountants, artists, police officers…the list is endless – and includes airline pilots.

Meghan and Harry need not think that going to Canada will get them far away from the world of pension and investment scams. These criminals have long arms and can easily reach as far as North America – and well beyond. The long list of highly-organised scams includes schemes in the UK and all expat jurisdictions across the globe – including Canada.

Coming from a privileged background where Harry’s Mum gets paid more than £8 million a year (and Meghan and Harry are reportedly worth around £30 million), it is going to be hard to get their heads round the poverty thousands of victims are facing. Perhaps cutting the purse and apron strings will teach Meghan and Harry just how hard it is to earn a crust – and save for a retirement that isn’t handed to them on a plate.

While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly backwards and forwards between the UK and Canada, perhaps they might like to ponder a few things:
1. How to keep the plight of pension and investment scam victims in the headlines
2. How to encourage the government to make financial regulation effective
3. How to provide a law-enforcement system that ensures all scammers are jailed
4. How to get the law changed to ensure HMRC pursues the perps rather than the victims
5. Whether the pilot of their plane has lost his pension and hasn’t got his mind entirely on the job
If Meghan and Harry do accept this challenge, they will have to accept that it won’t be easy. The scammers are determined, hard-nosed and hard-hearted criminals; the regulators are lazy and mostly asleep at the wheel; the police are over-stretched and under-resourced; the government hasn’t got a Scooby – and anyway can’t think beyond Brexit. This is evidenced by the fact that the moronic Chancellor Sajid Javid appointed arch FCA failure Andrew Bailey to govern the Bank of England. Boris Johnson was just as bonkers to endorse this ridiculous decision. When he told the Queen of the appointment, she should have given him a good slap round the earhole. (Mind you – she was probably a bit preoccupied about the company Uncle Andrew was keeping at the time, and she probably thought “oh well, at least Bailey isn’t a paedophile”).

The biggest challenge in fighting pension and investment scams is how to help prevent further victims. The best way to do this is to keep the topic firmly in the public eye – and that means encouraging the press to keep the subject in the headlines (and not let it get shoved out of sight by trivia). The other important role that Meghan and Harry could play would be to ensure that politicians keep their promises. A couple of years ago Boris Johnson promised a group of his constituents that he would tackle pension scams. But nothing happened and now he is ignoring them. We all know he’s been a little busy recently, but leaving his own constituents hanging after promising he would help them is not acceptable.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-7862039/Time-pensions-promise-Boris-PM-pledged-help-victims.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-related

I remember being with two Ark victims at least five years ago and begging journalists at The Sunday Times and The Sun to run an article on the Ark scam. They all said it wasn’t “sexy enough”. Mark Atherton of The Times wrote a very good piece in The Times in 2014, but he was severely threatened and never wrote about pension scams again.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pension-scam-leaves-victims-in-debt-k33rlcs25wc

Just think how many victims could have been prevented had the media done their duty and fully exposed the parties who caused and facilitated these scams since 2010. Then think how many suicides and stress-related deaths could have been prevented. Consider how much money could have been saved from destruction – and how many people could have been looking forward to a well-earned and comfortable retirement rather than abject poverty and misery.

In October 2019, The Mail’s Tom Kelly came to my office in Spain and spent several days with me. I went through the whole history of Stephen Ward and Ark (followed by Capita Oak and more than a dozen others), as well as James Lau and Salmon Enterprises, Paul Baxendale-Walker, Peter Moat and Darren Kirby’s Continental Wealth Management. I explained to Tom in detail how the flow of money works from the ceding pension providers: Aviva, Standard Life, Prudential, NHS, Police and Local Authorities etc., to the receiving schemes; what the difference between personal and DB pensions is and how the whole bogus occupational scheme fraud worked. Most important, we went through how hidden commissions and high-risk, toxic investments often destroy victims’ funds – as well as the life bonds such as OMI, SEB, Generali, Friends Provident, RL360 which lock investors in to entirely unnecessary, inflexible and expensive offshore bonds – AND PAY FAT COMMISSIONS TO THE UNQUALIFIED, UNREGULATED SCAMMERS.

In case Meghan and Harry are still unsure whether patronage of an initiative to outlaw pension and investment scams is their cup of tea, I will share, yet again, the video which features the death of CWM victim Mark Davison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlxu8YOaAM

Laura Shannon of The Mail On Sunday attended Mark’s memorial service and interviewed dozens of further CWM victims in September 2019. While five months pregnant, Laura made the journey to Denia, Alicante, in fierce heat – putting all other so-called investigative journalists who write about financial services (or not, as the case may be) to shame. Not even stopping to recover from an arduous bus journey from the airport, she got stuck straight in and wrote an excellent piece: https://pension-life.com/continental-wealth-management-plunder-in-paradise/

Responsibility for reforming financial services and bringing culpable parties to justice may lie with governments, regulators, police and HMRC. But Royals could do their part too. Meghan and Harry: get stuck in to a worthy cause. Find out what the real world is really like for ordinary, decent, hard-working victims of pension and investment scams.

Finally, I am enormously grateful to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for calling out our idiot Chancellor Sajid Javid over the appalling appointment of Andrew Bailey as Governor of the Bank of England. Anyone who fancies dropping him a line can reach him here: mcdonnellj@parliament.uk or here: lowderh@parliament.uk
January 16, 2020
Pension Scammers in Spain – CWM must be a lesson to all

Despite the 2017 demise of Continental Wealth Management – run by Darren Kirby and his partner Jody Smart (Bell/Kirby) – former CWM scammers have continued to ply their evil trade. Pension scammers don’t just go away – they join or set up other firms and continue their profitable, illegal work. Just as leopards don’t change their spots, scammers don’t change their modus operandi. They use the same old same old dirty tricks as used by CWM for nearly ten years since the firm was set up by Darren Kirby and Paul Clarke: essentially an illegal insurance bond sales operation – followed up by toxic, high-risk investments paying the highest possible commissions to the scammers. They don’t bother with regulations or qualifications and routinely forge signatures on investment dealing instructions.

The CWM pension scam in Spain must be a lesson to all; phoenixes run by former CWM scammers must be exposed and closed down; firms with only an insurance license must not give illegal investment advice; insurance bonds must no longer be sold illegally in Spain and elsewhere; commissions must not be fraudulently concealed; advisers must be qualified; illegally-run offshore “networks” must be outlawed and disbanded.

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions S.L., Premier Pension Transfers Ltd., Dorrixo Alliance and Marazion, seems to have given up his scamming operation and is now re-developing his former office in Moraira into a luxury villa with pool. Having ruined thousands of victims with his various pension scams: Ark, Evergreen, Capita Oak, Westminster, London Quantum etc., he then went on to “advise” thousands more victims on the transfer of their DB pensions into the hands of more offshore sharks and scammers. All these victims will have been transferred into QROPS and then put in unnecessary, expensive insurance bonds such as OMI, and then invested in high-risk, high-commission rubbish which will have destroyed substantial amounts of money.

Stephen Ward had his own portfolio of clients as well. He ruined most of these by investing their life savings in high-risk, high-commission funds such as EEA Life Settlements, Axiom Legal Funding, Mansion Student Accommodation, Aria and Blackrock Gold.

Stephen Ward had been issuing all the transfer advice reports for the CWM victims, but then in or around 2015 he was replaced by CWM scammer Martyn Ryan of FCA-registered Global Financial Options who took over from Ward in facilitating the CWM scam which ruined up to 1,000 victims. Ryan now runs Infinity Claims – a claims management company which, ironically, purports to help victims of unsuitable pension transfers (you couldn’t make it up!). Best (or worst) of all, Ryan’s new firm is also FCA regulated. You can quite see how victims get scammed when regulators give the scammers the very tools they need to trick their victims into handing over their life savings.

Another prolific CWM scammer was Phill Pennick. He, like all his colleagues at the unregulated Continental Wealth Management firm on the Costa Blanca, conned hundreds of victims into having their pensions and life savings placed into illegally-sold insurance bonds by OMI, SEB and Generali, and then invested in toxic structured notes provided by Royal Bank of Canada, Commerzbank, Nomura and Leonteq. Victims lost up to 100% of their funds while Pennick and the rest of Kirby’s team of scammers earned fat, concealed commissions from the insurance bonds and structured notes.

Pennick went on to set up his own “IFA” practice – Pennick Blackwell – at two office addresses on the Costa Blanca: Albir and La Nucia. Former mortgage broker Pennick – and his associate Kristoffer Taft (former barman with no qualifications) proceeded to scam more victims and openly commit criminal offences by selling insurance bonds illegally in contravention of the Spanish insurance regulations. In the past few days, the Albir Pennick Blackwell office has closed down and been emptied of all furniture and light bulbs. It is not known whether Pennick (who had also been running an estate agency and a mis-sold mortgage claims management company) is now on the run or whether he has simply done a “phoenix” somewhere else. Certainly, the public should be wary and report any sightings of this serial scammer.

Another phoenix from an ex-CWM scammer is Roebuck Wealth run by Paul Clarke. Clarke was one of the original founders of Continental Wealth Management, along with head scammer Darren Kirby. The pair parted acrimoniously and Clarke went on to promote Stephen Ward’s Ark scam and to build a successful business as an insurance bond and structured note salesmen – committing criminal offences by flogging both sets of products throughout Spain. Earning huge commissions from both bonds and toxic investments with illegally-concealed commissions, Clarke sought out some of his new victims on Facebook – using the name “Bella and Alfie” to hide his real identity.

Openly committing a series of criminal offences by putting clients into bonds and investments which were entirely unsuitable and risky, Clarke concealed his commissions and routinely destroyed his clients’ funds. Interestingly, Clarke seems to have scrubbed the internet of all trace of his firm – Roebuck Wealth – and of himself. Openly prowling the Costa Blanca for more victims in his Aston Martin, Clarke now works closely with the local Masons which provides him with a large stock of further victims to keep him in his champagne lifestyle.

Some of the former CWM scammers managed to get jobs with other financial advisory firms when Continental Wealth Management collapsed in September 2017. Ethical firms who had inadvertently employed these scammers, without realising the extent of their crimes, immediately sacked them when they discovered the truth. One exception to this is the Spectrum IFA Group. This outfit – which purports to be a financial advisory firm – currently employs former CWM scammer Dennis Radford.

However, when warned that they were operating illegally by providing investment advice in Spain and other countries – as well as selling insurance bonds illegally in Spain – Spectrum’s Michael Lodhi refused to sack Radford. Lodhi then went on to attempt to justify the firm’s illegal activities and to defend Radford. Radford had acted as “Senior Partner” at CWM and had been heavily involved in the scamming activities of the firm for some years. The email exchange between Lodhi and me is reported below. This exchange reveals the extent of Spectrum’s illegal activities – in which Radford now plays a key role.

Pension Scammers in Spain – CWM must be a lesson to all.

The Continental Wealth Management scam must be a lesson to all. The public must be made aware of the crimes which have already been committed by the former CWM scammers and must avoid them at all costs in the future. Quite a few of these vile predators are now in the process of being prosecuted and will hopefully serve long jail sentences. But in the meantime, while the Spanish justice process plays out, it is essential that the public should remain vigilant. The scammers are very much alive and active – especially on the Costa Blanca along the eastern coast of Spain (where there is a large concentration of British expats).

RESPONSE BY ANGIE BROOKS OF PENSION LIFE TO LETTER FROM MICHAEL LODHI OF SPECTRUM IFA GROUP

LODHI: We have examined your website and posts and would like to correct some details about our firm that you may have misunderstood.

ME: There is nothing I have misunderstood.

LODHI: Spectrum IFA Group is not a company. It is our brand, a pan-European registered trademark. This is clearly stated on our website and our literature: For Spain “The Spectrum IFA Group” is a registered trademark, exclusive rights to use in Spain granted to: Baskerville Advisers S.L. | CIF B-63/137.020 | Correduría de Seguros; No de registro RDGS J2306.

ME: And this does not authorise Baskerville Advisers S.L. to provide investment advice. Therefore, you are breaking the law by doing so.

LODHI: We provide financial planning services and advice using Insurance based Investment Products (IBIPs) which are both Spanish compliant and tax efficient in Spain.

ME: Your firm is authorised for insurance mediation and this does not cover investment advice. The products to which you are referring are insurance bonds (e.g. OMI, SEB, Generali etc) which are mostly sold illegally in Spain. These companies have facilitated widespread financial crime – including fraud – for many years. This has involved giving terms of business to unregulated firms such as CWM and allowing many millions of pounds’ worth of life savings to be destroyed (by the use of high-risk, high-commission investments).

LODHI: Regulation of these products is covered in the Insurance Distribution Directive. More information is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/insurance-distribution-directive-2016-97-eu_en Article 2 – Definitions point (17) of DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/97 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 January 2016 on insurance distribution (recast) page 30 states: ‘insurance-based investment product’ means an insurance product which offers a maturity or surrender value and where that maturity or surrender value is wholly or partially exposed, directly or indirectly, to market fluctuations The appropriate regulator in Spain for such IBIPs is the DGSFP.

ME: The DGS does not regulate the products themselves – it regulates the way the products are sold (mediated). And most advisory firms in Spain do this illegally (in contravention of the DGS regulations). Also, the Spanish Supreme Court has deemed life assurance policies (such as OMI bonds) to be invalid for the purposes of holding investments.

LODHI: For your information another of our group companies is a licensed investment advisory firm (Mifid) however this licence is not required for our current activity in Spain.

ME: Which company? You are clearly giving investment advice, so how is your organisation authorised to do this – particularly in Spain?

LODHI: Our consultants are trained in accordance with Spanish rules laid down by our regulator, the DGSFP.

ME: I think you have to be clear what your “consultants” do. Are they advisers or just bond salesmen? If the Spanish rules say that consultants (or salesmen or advisers) don’t have to be qualified, then you are right. Most of your salesmen have no qualifications (although some of them do lie about being qualified). The only ones with verifiable qualifications are Robin Beven, John Hayward, Chris Burke and Jonathan Goodman (as far as I can see). Perhaps you can update me on this so I can republish this blog with the latest information: https://pension-life.com/spectrum-ifa-group-qualified-and-registered/

LODHI: All of our financial planning advice is produced and signed off centrally via our technical and compliance department.

AB: That’s a funny sort of “compliance” department if it signs off investment advice which is not licensed. Perhaps you ought to sack all your compliance people since they clearly don’t understand that a firm cannot give investment advice (which many of your salesmen clearly claim to do on your own website) without being licensed to do so.

LODHI: In addition, our pension transfer advice (TVAS reports) are also provided centrally by a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute who holds all the up to date UK pensions qualifications.

ME: Which one of your staff is this?

LODHI: Where appropriate, further pensions transfer advice is provided by an FCA authorised pension transfer specialist who holds all current UK pension advice permissions.

AB: Who? (as in – who is the allegedly FCA-authorised pension transfer specialist providing transfer advice to Spectrum?)

LODHI: It is not a requirement in Spain that our consultants hold UK financial planning qualifications, however many do hold these. For example John Hayward holds the following UK qualifications: Chartered Insurance Institute Financial Planning Certificate (3 parts 1. Financial Services and their regulation 2. Protection, savings and investment products 3. Identifying and satisfying client needs.) Chartered Insurance Institute G60 Pensions Institute of Financial Services Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice

AB: And hereby lies the problem, of course. Offshore firms such as yours concentrate on the expat market – which involves UK pensions. So of course a genuinely ethical and professional firm would ensure that advisers hold the relevant UK qualifications. This is one of the reasons why so many British firms offshore cause victims’ losses – because the advisers are not qualified and only know how to be salesmen targeting maximum commissions rather than giving proper independent financial advice.

LODHI: Dennis (Radford) approached us whilst working with Continental Wealth Management (CWM) part of the Trafalgar International Gmbh network. He was neither an owner nor a Director of that firm.

AB: Radford was a “Senior Partner” (of Continental Wealth Management) – although neither a shareholder nor a director. His title must have told you that he had held a senior position within the firm. This should have given you a clue that he was an integral part of this scam.

LODHI: Having worked with CWM for some time he realised that the products sold inside life assurance policies were not in his client’s best interests.

AB: It would be interesting to know how many minutes he took to realise this. He could easily have checked to see how insurance products are supposed to be sold – and had he done this he would have realised immediately that ALL the life bonds (OMI, SEB and Generali) were being sold illegally by CWM. With the structured notes, all the term sheets clearly bore the words: “for professional investors only” and “risk of loss of part or all of your capital”. So he should have stopped immediately. But as you have confirmed, Radford continued selling these products “for some time”. Perhaps you would be kind enough to disclose exactly how many people Radford scammed out of their life savings during the time he was “Senior Partner” at CWM?

LODHI: After investigating our working methods and procedures Dennis applied to join our firm.

AB: It was at this point that you should have told Radford in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances would you take on a bond salesman who had been working for a firm of scammers. But clearly you welcomed him with open arms.

LODHI: His main request was that we assist him with his existing clients by moving them (where possible) into funds from Spectrum’s approved fund list – EU compliant, daily traded, from household name fund managers, without initial fees, initial commissions or exit penalties.

AB: But that would have involved giving investment advice – and Spectrum was not licensed to give investment advice.

LODHI: Dennis continues to assist his clients transferred to Spectrum from CWM along with other clients from other IFA firms with similar issues around QROPS and Fund selection inside IBIPs.

AB: Again, this involves investment advice. Radford is not qualified to do this, and Spectrum (or Baskerville) is not authorised to do this.

LODHI: We understand you are trying to help expatriates in Spain who may have been subject to mis- selling by IFAs.

AB: Correct. We are taking criminal action against the directors and shareholders of CWM for the fraud and disloyal administration (a criminal offence in Spain) committed by the director and shareholders of the company. Now that it has become clear that Radford held a senior position of responsibility and authority in the company, I will be taking legal advice as to whether he should be added to the list of defendants.

LODHI: It is important for your business’ credibility that your posts are factually correct.

AB: My posts are factually correct. But this isn’t about my business; it is about your business – and your credibility. And you are employing unqualified “advisers” and are giving unauthorised investment advice – along with employing Radford – a known ex-CWM scammer. Most decent, ethical firms immediately sack scammers when they realise their provenance and it is disappointing that you have not taken such proactive action and are still harbouring him.

LODHI: Several posts on your site imply that our firm is carrying out an activity that is illegal.

AB: Correct. You are giving investment advice without being authorised to do so. Further, the way your firm is selling insurance bonds is illegal. I don’t know what the Spanish regulations say about employing ex scammers – perhaps you could enlighten me?

LODHI: This is clearly not the case.

AB: It is, indeed, clearly the case.

LODHI: We ask that you remove these posts immediately in order that we avoid having to take action.

AB: Hopefully, the action you will take will be to sack Dennis Radford without further prevarication. I will be happy to update the qualifications on the post about your staff if you provide me with links to evidence on each one.

LODHI: Like you, we have tried to assist people who have been subject to bad advice in Spain and we continue to do so.

AB: If this is true, it is such a shame that you have employed one of the very people who was giving “bad” advice and who had been a “Senior Partner” at CWM – the very firm which scammed 1,000 victims out of their life savings.

LODHI: We understand that financial services regulation within the EU is complex.

AB: It is not complex at all. In Spain you have to comply with Spanish regulations – irrespective of where or how you are regulated.

LODHI: We are ready to assist you in understanding the facts and procedures should this be of use to you.

AB: If I ever find myself in a position where I feel I require assistance from a firm which is employing a known scammer and is providing investment advice without being authorised to do so, you will be the first to know. (However, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you).

LODHI: Brexit. Be aware that in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal or with Mr Johnson’s current deal, then, as it stands, IFAs licensed and regulated in the UK or Gibraltar will be unable to advise or service clients from the date of leaving. A Spanish licensed brokerage like ours will have no such issues.

AB: Brexit or no Brexit, your firm is not licensed to provide investment advice. Further, it is obliged to conform to Spanish regulations. That will not change.

LODHI: We look forward to hearing that your erroneous posts have been removed.

AB: There are no erroneous posts – unless you would care to help me update the qualifications on last year’s post?

Clearly, Lodhi is happy to continue to employ one of the CWM pension scammers. He has no intention of learning any lessons and the public must be extremely wary of Spectrum IFA Group as it is breaking the law in Spain.

December 31, 2019
Fighting pension scams – Qualifications
Fighting pension scams needs to be done logically and methodically. Decent advisers need to use high standards to help fight scams. If these standards become the norm, the scammers won’t survive and flourish so easily.

Fighting pension scams – Qualifications

Most qualified advisers want nothing to do with pension scams. Many offshore firms employ advisers who have not passed the required exams. Even if an adviser has qualified, he or she must still be registered. We recently surveyed a number of offshore advisory firms:

Belgravia Wealth Square Mile Robusto Spectrum Blevins Franks Seagate Wealth Woodbrook Group Globaleye

Lots of offshore advisers consider they don’t need to be qualified. Let’s have a look at an example:

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is the largest and most widely respected professional body for those who work in the securities. The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is a professional body dedicated to building trust in the insurance and financial planning profession.

All financial advisory firms should list their advisers, provide clear details of each adviser’s qualifications and a link to the institute’s register showing evidence of the qualifications.

Here is a useful guide to qualifications: Qualified Adviser for QROPS

“Qualifications are not the be all/end all. A certificate does not prove professional competence in the field , ethics or experience. But the public have to start their due diligence somewhere.”

Sadly, there are a few well qualified advisers who are the exception to the rule. Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions ran numerous scams:

Ark Evergreen Capita Oak Westminster Southlands Headforte

Randwick Estates Bollington Wood Hammerley Halkin Feldspar

and many others such as Westminster and London Quantum – ruining thousands of lives. Several of his schemes are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. He also provided the transfer advice in the Continental Wealth scam.

Any decent adviser will want to be fully qualified. And registered. The rest should go back to selling snake oil. But consumers must remember there are exceptions. Some regulated firms get it wrong. Qualified advisers can get it wrong.

The trick is to know all the questions to ask. Here’s where the ten standards come in handy:
1. Firm must be fully regulated – with licenses for insurance and investment advice
2. Advisers must be qualified to the right standard pension-life.com/ten-essential-standards-for-pension-advice
3. Firm must have Professional Indemnity Insurance
4. Clients must have comprehensive fact finds and risk profiles
5. Firm must operate adequate compliance procedures
6. Advisers must not abuse insurance bonds
7. Clients must understand the investment policy
8. All fees, charges and commissions must be disclosed
9. Investors must know how their investments are performing
10. Firm must keep a log of all customer complaints
Fighting pension scams – why qualifications are so essential

If clients used only firms that tick all ten Standards boxes, it would be harder for the scammers to get business. Decent firms who care about their reputation should make sure there are clear links to all advisers’ qualifications. Make it easy for the consumer to understand how to check that the stated qualifications are genuine. And help educate people to understand what qualifications are required.

All too often, advisers claim to have qualifications that don’t exist – or that aren’t appropriate for investment advice. For example, some advisers who are assuring clients they can advise on pensions and investments, only have qualifications suitable for mortgages. Or worse still, no qualifications at all. Whatever the adviser says his qualifications are, the client must be able to double check.

You wouldn’t go to an unqualified solicitor would you? So don’t use an unqualified financial adviser. Being qualified goes hand in hand with being regulated.
May 8, 2019
ARK PENSION DISASTER – THE TIMES ARTICLE
The Times – good quality journalism reporting poor quality financial advice

Ark Pension Disaster – The Times Article – Mark Atherton Uncovers Pension Liberation Scam

Money

Pension scam leaves victims in debt

Angie Brooks is leading a campaign to secure justice for victims of a pensions “liberation” scam Pic: Richard Pohle

Mark Atherton

Last updated at 12:01 AM, September 13 2014

Thousands of people have lost more than £500 million of their savings after being duped into taking part in unauthorised “pension liberation” scams. Experts say that the true figure runs into billions because many cases go unreported.

They also warn that next year’s relaxation of the rules governing how you can take your pension cash will provide a fertile breeding ground for fresh scams as fraudsters queue up to exploit the uncertainty around the new pensions regime.

Some of today’s victims fear they have lost their entire pension savings, while others say they have been driven to the brink of suicide.

The lure of pensions “liberation”

Savers were originally lured into transferring their pension pots by the promise of getting their hands on their retirement cash before the age of 55. However, many succeeded in “unlocking” only half of their pension pot, with the rest going partly into uncertain property investments, partly into cash and partly to the scheme’s promoters through hefty fees.

Savers were told that these schemes were legitimate but that was not true. Now many of the victims are facing financial ruin as they are being told to hand back the money they “liberated”, while Revenue & Customs is poised to slap on a tax penalty of 55 percent of the “unlocked” cash. In many cases, they simply do not have the money to pay.

The Ark schemes

Among the biggest “liberation” schemes were those created by Ark, a pensions consultant. These were marketed by financial advisers and so-called “introducers” in the UK and Spain. One of the main players was Stephen Ward, of Premier Pension Solutions (PPS), a Spanish-based company.

Angie Brooks, below, a former tax barrister, who is leading the class action on behalf of the Ark victims, says: “Mr Ward assured Ark applicants that it was lawful and tax-free and was approved by the Revenue and the pensions regulator. The Revenue registered the six Ark occupational pension schemes without checking for compliance. So did the pensions regulator. This understandably gave the Ark members the reasonable illusion that the schemes were lawful and approved by the UK government.”

The registration procedures have now been changed. She says that between September 2010 and May 2011, £25 million was transferred from personal and occupational pension plans into Ark schemes, for fees of up to 10 percent of the value of the transferred pot. More was transferred after this, bringing the total to £27 million.

PPS teamed up with AES International, a firm regulated in the UK, which gave PPS a tied agent agreement to operate in Spain under its regulation (though this did not authorise PPS to carry out pension transfers). PPS carried out at least 160 Ark pension transfers, totalling £10.7 million, with Ark taking a 5 percent cut of each transfer, PPS pocketing a further 3 per cent, as well as a slice of the Ark money, and AES receiving a 12.5 percent slice of PPS’s cut.

The schemes “unlocked” money by arranging for members to make reciprocal loans, worth about half the value of their pension pot, to each other. Many believed they would not have to repay these loans, known as Maximising Pension Value Arrangements (MPVA). The remaining half of their pension pots, after deduction of hefty charges, was partly held in cash and partly used to buy plots of land or timeshares.

Alarm bells started to ring in December 2010 when the Revenue expressed “concerns” over the lawfulness of the schemes, though it was not until May that they were suspended and a trustee — Dalriada — appointed. It embarked on litigation that resulted in the Ark schemes being declared invalid and the reciprocal loans judged to be “unauthorised payments” in the High Court in December 2011.

The cost to Ark victims

The judge’s ruling delivered a twofold blow to Ark members. First, Dalriada was enabled to demand back the money they had received as loans under the schemes. Second, since the loans were “unauthorised payments” the Revenue was entitled to levy a penalty charge of 55 per cent on these sums. The Revenue has not decided whether to tax the donors or recipients.

Dalriada has managed to recover more than £6 million of the £7 million which Ark spent on property investments. Sean Browes, of Dalriada, adds that it also has £9 million of Ark money in a bank account and is seeking to unscramble the £10 million of reciprocal loans. However, this has come at the cost of £800,000 in Dalriada’s fees and £1.9 million in legal costs.

According to Ms Brooks, Mr Ward has, since the suspension of Ark, been linked to pension liberation schemes which have attracted hundreds of fresh customers — something he denies.

He says: “PPS provided information regarding the Ark schemes in good faith based on the information and opinions provided by Ark and our own independent research. We included statements that independent financial advice should be sought and a number of people who did take advice found the experts they consulted agreed with our understanding of the position. We believe the damage has been caused primarily by the Revenue’s failure to take action when it first became aware of the schemes and by Dalriada’s fees.”

Sam Instone, the head of AES International, says: “We had nothing to do with the Ark scheme and we earned a negligible amount from our tied agency with PPS. We have no legal responsibility for what has occurred here.”

Craig Tweedley, who created the Ark schemes, says: “We took extensive advice about the validity of these schemes before launch. We were concerned when we learned that some introducers were claiming that the MPVA loans did not have to be repaid when a key part of our scheme was that they should.”

Dalriada says: “The Ark schemes were very unusual and have taken some time and, unfortunately, money to unravel. The members of these schemes have been scammed.”

Anyone with information about these pensions “liberation” schemes is invited to contact mark.atherton@ thetimes.co.uk

Be on your guard against scams
- Ahead of next year’s changes to the rules, one aspect of which means those aged 55 or over can take money from their pension, the scammers are gearing up to part you from your cash. Be on your guard
- If someone promises to help you take money from your pension pot before the age of 55 it is almost certainly a scam: you could lose the lot
- Even if you are over 55, do not deal with anyone targeting you by phone, text message or approaching you in person. Beware the words: ‘free pension review’
- Do not deal with anyone who is not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority for pension transfers
September 17, 2014
Ark, Evergreen Retirement Trust QROPS and Marazion Timeline

Note similarity between the Marazion and Perpetual logos!

ARK DISASTER – MARAZION/EVERGREEN PENSION LOAN SCHEMES:

TIME-LINE

ARK CLASS ACTION

An Ark victim has suggested it would be a good idea to do a full update so everybody knows the entire story so far. I agree that’s a good idea so here is a brief outline of where we are and how we got here. If anyone has any questions or wants further information the Ark Class Action can be contacted on arkmarazion@gmail.com.

2010: a group of investors got together and purchased a plot of land in Larnaca, Cyprus for 1 million pounds. With the intention to try to turn it into a golf course. Only they needed more land and more money. So they consulted a group of “experts” who came up with the idea of attracting investment by starting a pension scheme. Now, pensions are supposed to be LOW RISK. And diverse. Speculative land development projects are NOT a good idea for a pension (due to being high risk). Financial advisers are supposed to know this and are not supposed to advise their clients to put their hard-earned pensions into a scheme based on a potentially worthless piece of land.

OFFICIAL TIME-LINE 2010: Ark was formed by a group of “experts” and the worthless piece of land originally bought for 1 million was sold to Ark for 4 million.

August 2010: Ark’s “Master Pension Schemes” (MPS’s) were aggressively promoted and sold by a clutch of financial advisers in Spain and the UK using pension liberation (also known as pension cracking or unlocking) in a scheme described by the promoters as “not traditionally available” (in other words unlawful). This “unique” process was called Maximising Pension Value Arrangements (MPVA) and facilitated a loan to the participant of up to 50% of the value of the transferred pension (after deduction of fees which ranged from between 5% and 15%).

2010 to 2011: The Ark schemes began advertising and were sold through newspaper ads, websites, calls from financial advisers, seminars and advertisements posted on toilet doors.

May 2011: The Pensions Regulator were actively shutting down pension liberation scams such as Ark and placed the six Ark schemes in the hands of Dalriada Trustees and the whole lot was suspended. The Regulator was actively promoting its “Scorpion” campaign to warn people about the dangers of pension liberation fraud. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/investments-tax.htm. HMRC also set up “Project Bloom” to help stop these scams due to the fact that the victims stood to lose their pensions AND get 55% plus tax bills on their pension loans. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/liberationud.pdf

December 15th 2011: Justice Bean ruled in the High Court that the Ark schemes (MPS’s and MPVA’s i.e. pension transfers and reciprocal loans) were a “fraud on the power of investment” and that the loans constituted “unauthorised payments” (i.e. taxable at 55%). The ruling can be read here – note Clause 57: http://www.professionalpensions.com/digital_assets/3826/4568_001.pdf

December 1st 2011: Evergreen Pension Scheme was established in New Zealand

December 20th 2011: Marazion was incorporated in Nicosia, Cyprus.

June 2012 Evergreen Pension Scheme commenced trading – making a loss in the first year and attracting 426 members

August 2012 Marazion started selling five-year term loans and corresponding five-year “lock ins” to Evergreen pension transfers

19th November 2012 HMRC suspended Evergreen from their QROPS list http://www.evergreentrust.co.nz/uk-pension-transfers/

December 2012 Dalriada published the first year’s audited accounts (for the period May 2011 to May 2012) for the six MPS’s: Cranbourne Star, Tallton Place, Grosvenor, Lancaster, Portman and Woodcroft Dalriada’s audited accounts for the six Ark schemes for the first two years can be found here: http://dalriadatrustees.co.uk/ark/

September 2013: The Ark Class Action was set up to help inform the Ark victims and negotiate and appeal their tax liabilities so that these (together with their pension losses) can be reclaimed from the negligent financial advisers who sold the Ark schemes to the victims .

March 2014: HMRC finally agreed to confirm their full intentions regarding taxing the Ark loans.

April 2014: HMRC finally confirmed their intention to try to tax the loans at both ends i.e. 55% at the receiving end AND 55% at the making end. They also confirmed that Ark members who did not receive a loan would still be taxed at 55% for making a loan or intending to make a loan, and/or intending to receive a loan.

Between 2012 and 2014 (to date), some Ark members have received demands by HMRC to complete Self Assessment returns declaring the Ark unauthorized payments for tax purposes; some members have received demands for the tax; some have received nothing at all, but HMRC have confirmed that the letters and demands are now on their way. However, there really has been no consistency in their approach to the whole Ark matter, but they do now appear to be getting their act together.

June 2014: Evidence regarding the Marazion/Evergreen pension liberation fraud was handed to the British authorities in London.

June 2014: HMRC has issued a deadline of 30th of June for return of the 10 point questionnaire required in respect of the Ark loans.

Any questions, just ask. Angela Brooks

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

June 21, 2014

Tag: paul clarke

This, of course, assumes there is no disruption to the proceedings caused by the Corona virus lockdown.

I can’t comment on the transcripts of the questions and answers on 24th and 25th February, and won’t be able to publish the full details of all cross examinations until all the defendants have appeared before the judge. The defendants on 7th April will be:

CWM’s promotion had always been centered around the iniquitous cold call – but in addition the business plan reveals that Jody Smart’s Grant A Wish “charity” events had been used to “harvest” potential victims at scamming sales parties posing as bona fide fundraising efforts.

Continental Wealth Management Business Plan 2017 (by Dean Stogsdill)

We are now a company where you perform, meet your target or you are replaced.

The protagonists behind collapsed Spanish advisory firm CWM – Continental Wealth Management – will be on trial week commencing 24th February in the Denia Criminal Court of First Instruction.

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions has fled to Florida where he owns a portfolio of at least ten mortgage-free properties near Disneyland. However, he will not succeed in avoiding prosecution.

Inter Alliance, Globalnet, Trafalgar, Old Mutual International, SEB and Generali

Scammers don’t care what their victims do for a living: sparks, chippies, builders, gardeners, taxi and bus drivers, soldiers, care workers, architects, scientists, accountants, artists, police officers…the list is endless – and includes airline pilots.

Stephen Ward had his own portfolio of clients as well. He ruined most of these by investing their life savings in high-risk, high-commission funds such as EEA Life Settlements, Axiom Legal Funding, Mansion Student Accommodation, Aria and Blackrock Gold.

Pension Scammers in Spain – CWM must be a lesson to all.

RESPONSE BY ANGIE BROOKS OF PENSION LIFE TO LETTER FROM MICHAEL LODHI OF SPECTRUM IFA GROUP

ME: There is nothing I have misunderstood.

ME: And this does not authorise Baskerville Advisers S.L. to provide investment advice. Therefore, you are breaking the law by doing so.

ME: Which company? You are clearly giving investment advice, so how is your organisation authorised to do this – particularly in Spain?

ME: Which one of your staff is this?

AB: Who? (as in – who is the allegedly FCA-authorised pension transfer specialist providing transfer advice to Spectrum?)

AB: Radford was a “Senior Partner” (of Continental Wealth Management) – although neither a shareholder nor a director. His title must have told you that he had held a senior position within the firm. This should have given you a clue that he was an integral part of this scam.

AB: It was at this point that you should have told Radford in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances would you take on a bond salesman who had been working for a firm of scammers. But clearly you welcomed him with open arms.

AB: But that would have involved giving investment advice – and Spectrum was not licensed to give investment advice.

AB: Again, this involves investment advice. Radford is not qualified to do this, and Spectrum (or Baskerville) is not authorised to do this.

AB: Correct. You are giving investment advice without being authorised to do so. Further, the way your firm is selling insurance bonds is illegal. I don’t know what the Spanish regulations say about employing ex scammers – perhaps you could enlighten me?

AB: It is, indeed, clearly the case.

AB: Hopefully, the action you will take will be to sack Dennis Radford without further prevarication. I will be happy to update the qualifications on the post about your staff if you provide me with links to evidence on each one.

AB: If this is true, it is such a shame that you have employed one of the very people who was giving “bad” advice and who had been a “Senior Partner” at CWM – the very firm which scammed 1,000 victims out of their life savings.

AB: It is not complex at all. In Spain you have to comply with Spanish regulations – irrespective of where or how you are regulated.

AB: If I ever find myself in a position where I feel I require assistance from a firm which is employing a known scammer and is providing investment advice without being authorised to do so, you will be the first to know. (However, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you).

AB: Brexit or no Brexit, your firm is not licensed to provide investment advice. Further, it is obliged to conform to Spanish regulations. That will not change.

AB: There are no erroneous posts – unless you would care to help me update the qualifications on last year’s post?

Clearly, Lodhi is happy to continue to employ one of the CWM pension scammers. He has no intention of learning any lessons and the public must be extremely wary of Spectrum IFA Group as it is breaking the law in Spain.

Fighting pension scams – Qualifications

“Qualifications are not the be all/end all. A certificate does not prove professional competence in the field , ethics or experience. But the public have to start their due diligence somewhere.”

Ark Evergreen Capita Oak Westminster Southlands Headforte

Randwick Estates Bollington Wood Hammerley Halkin Feldspar

Fighting pension scams – why qualifications are so essential

You wouldn’t go to an unqualified solicitor would you? So don’t use an unqualified financial adviser. Being qualified goes hand in hand with being regulated.