Tag: Pension Scams

SWISS DERIVATIVES AWARD 2018 – LEONTEQ – SERIOUSLY?
I’ve decided on a radical career change. I’m going to study to become a psychiatrist. My first patient is going to be Prof. Dr. Marc Oliver Rieger who voted Leonteq as best peddler of toxic, high-risk, crappy structured notes at the Swiss Derivatives Awards. Even before I qualify, I already know what treatment this idiot needs: a smart slap on his shiny head and then therapy to help him acknowledge what a waste of time he is.

Professor Rieger was chairman of the Swiss Derivatives Awards jury. And he damn well should have known better than to shame his country, the financial services industry, and those who wasted their time and qualifications educating him in the first place. This guy has a PhD, so he must have had at least a couple of brain cells at some point. But something obviously fried them both because he should have known better than to allow Leonteq to be rewarded – as opposed to vilified and sanctioned – for the wholesale damage caused by their toxic products to hundreds of victims.

Professor Rieger will need months – if not years – of intensive psychiatric therapy to cure him of his inability to comprehend that rogue firms such as Leonteq should be banned from financial services altogether – not given awards for helping to scam innocent victims out of their life savings. Leonteq was selling their rubbish products to an unlicensed firm of “introducers” masquerading as financial advisers: Continental Wealth Management between 2010 and 2017. Further, Leonteq was paying this firm of scammers commissions of between 6% and 8%. Many of the victims whose pensions were invested in Leonteq’s derivatives products have lost most – or even all – of their retirement savings.

Professor Rieger is not the only one who has caused this award abomination. On the panel of judges was another academic who should have known better: Philippe Béguelin. He appears to have a decent pedigree and was editor at FuW for seven years. He is reported as having a background in financial markets, monetary policy, economics, investments, foreign currencies, commodities, and financial instruments such as structured products.

There are numerous obvious things lacking in Phillippe Beguelin’s education and career history – including basic decency and common sense. You just don’t give awards to rogue firms which facilitate financial crime.

In my new career as a psychiatrist, I am bound to have my hands full – not just with the various nutters in offshore financial services the world over, but also with other members of the Swiss Derivatives Awards judges panel which include:
- Dr. Heinz Kubli, CEO Fundabilis AG
- André Buck, Head Sales, SIX Swiss Exchange AG
- Stephan Welti, Managing Partner – Geissbühler Weber & Partner AG
- Prof. Dr. Martin Wallmeier, Lehrstuhl für Finanzmanagement und Rechnungswesen, Universität Fribourg (Research Award)
- Martin Raab, Executive Director, Derivative Partners AG
They are all, obviously, stark-raving bonkers. There may be no hope for most of them, but I might be able to help one or two of them to lead normal lives one day.

What these sad cases need to understand is that:
- Leonteq sold their toxic, crappy products through an unlicensed scammer: Continental Wealth Management
- Knowing full well that their rubbish products were only suitable for idiots with more money than sense, Leonteq sold their crap to an unlicensed firm of scammers and paid them between 6% and 8% in commission
- Leonteq put together an ultra-high-risk pile of crap which paid 8% to the scammers and which caused even higher losses to the victims.
One of the partners of this absurd awards ceremony was Geissbuhler Weber & Partner – who should also hang their heads in shame. This firm claims to advise providers on the fulfillment of financial market regulatory requirements and the optimisation of compliance and risk processes. Today, Geissbühler Weber & Partner is, allegedly, known in Switzerland as a “reliable partner for banks and asset managers”. As far as I am concerned, they are as bad as Leonteq and the scammers they helped make rich.

Perhaps the hundreds of Continental Wealth Management victims would like to email these morons and let them know what they think of them condoning giving “awards” to a firm which has facilitated and profited from financial crime:

alex.geissbuehler@gwp.ch

reto.weber@gwp.ch

stephan.welti@gwp.ch

pia.aeberhard@gwp.ch

admira.besic@gwp.ch

regine.wolfensberger@gwp.ch

www.gwpartner.ch
March 24, 2018
CONTINENTAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT BY JODY KIRBY (OR SMART OR BELL)

CONTINENTAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT BY JODY KIRBY (OR SMART OR BELL) – Now that Continental Wealth Management/Trust boss, Darren Kirby, is coming back to Spain to help sort out the mess, it is time to engage with his former partner, Jody, to find out what she has been doing to resolve the losses suffered by hundreds of victims.

Darren will, naturally, want to set the record straight, and help CWM victims get their money back after CWM “advisers” put their entire retirement savings into professional-investor-only structured notes. Many of these notes failed – costing victims £millions.

I have no doubt that Jody Kirby (or Smart or Bell – or whatever name she is using nowadays) will be keen to get involved. What exactly she has been doing to help the victims since September 2017 remains a closely guarded secret. However, I am sure she will announce it pretty soon now she knows that Darren Kirby is coming back.

Jody and Darren will, obviously, have a lot to talk about – and I am sure she will appreciate the importance of being frank with him. She will probably tell her current chap, Frank Pearson, to hop it while she and Darren debate the best way forward. Hopefully Frank will have the grace to duck out of the way so as not to distract Jody and Darren from concentrating on their responsibilities. After all, three is a crowd and Pearson doesn’t want to get stuck in the way like an unwanted duck a l’orange!

44-year old Jody has her own fashion business and has openly admitted to having made millions out of financial services. Once Frank is out of the way, she and Darren can put their heads together to formulate a plan to put that money to good use – in the interests of the victims of CWM.

A really smart way to approach this would be to write out a detailed account of everything that happened and who was responsible for each bit. I believe Darren Kirby has already made a start on this with the help of Alan Gorringe. This account will be especially helpful to us in the court proceedings.

As part of the frank account of the CWM disaster, all the victims will be keen to know what constructive ideas they both have for helping to put things right. There has been way too much silence on this subject from all the CWM advisers to date.

The victims will, no doubt, be pleased to see Darren and Jody committing to the rescue effort together. Jody was – and still is – sole director of Continental Wealth Trust which traded as Continental Wealth Management. A few years ago she described her role in the company on a television programme about “colourful” characters on the Costa Blanca. She confirmed that she was in finance and that she had contributed to the success of CWM saying that it had “gone global”. She stated that while their main office was in Javea, they had also expanded into Portugal, Ibiza, Turkey and France.

Jody explained in the interview that her role in the company was not as a (qualified) financial adviser, but to expand the company and bring the best people on board to work for her and her colleagues.

She goes on to say that CWM offers the “whole package for expats”, advising on the investment of funds (although the firm was never licensed to do so). She then explained how CWM offered “pension release” and detailed a scheme the firm offered whereby pensions could be transferred from the UK. She called this “just amazing” and said they had been very successful at doing this. She said the clients were told “we are going to give you money and it is not going to cost you anything – let’s just find out what you have got in your pension – it will only cost you a little bit of time and we can change your life”.

What she was actually describing was pension liberation fraud through a scheme called the Evergreen Retirement Trust – a QROPS in New Zealand. CWM’s “sister company”, Premier Pension Solutions, run by Stephen Ward, was the brains behind this scam (and CWM did the cold-calling and lead generation). 300 victims lost £10 milion in this scheme, and it cost them 10% of their transfer value in fees, plus 50% of their “loans” in Ward’s Marazion scheme. So not exactly the “nothing” that Jody claimed it would cost the victims.

Jody stated that they had “helped so many families” by releasing their pensions, and said she liked to help people because it was “in my nature”. I am sure the CWM victims will be pleased to hear that – and then to see some evidence of her – and Darren – “helping” them.

In another television interview, at the penthouse suite in a swanky five-star hotel overlooking Hyde Park, Jody explained how she had put half a million pounds into her fashion business. Over champagne, she told the interviewer she had ambition, drive and a burning desire in her.

Let us hope this passion translates into action and a commitment to helping the CWM victims who have lost much, most or – in some cases – all of their retirement savings.

February 28, 2018
OMI complaint
COMPLAINT TO OMI, THE ISLE OF MAN FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY, THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN AND THE ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL LIFE OFFICES

ATTENTION:

Martin Middleton, CEO

Michael Hampson
Complaints Handler | Complaints Team | Old Mutual International

T: 44 (0) 1624 655451 | Int Ext: 75451
F: 44 (0) 1624 611715
E: omifmcomplaints@ominternational.com | W: www.oldmutualinternational.com

Isle of Man Financial Services Authority
PO Box 58
Finch Hill House
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM99 1DT

info@iomfsa.im

GeneralMailbox.ATG@gov.im

Central Bank of Ireland:

enquiries@centralbank.ie

Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman

Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, D02 VH29. Tel: (01) 567 7000 Email: info@fspo.ie Website: www.fspo.ie

AILO – Association of International Life Offices

secretariat@ailo.org

COMPLAINT REGARDING OMI’S NEGLIGENCE, FAILED GOVERNANCE AND FACILITATION OF FINANCIAL CRIME – European Executive Investment Bond (EEIB)

OMI has facilitated financial crime over a period of many years; stood by while innocent victims’ retirement savings were destroyed; paid huge commissions to an unlicensed (and illegal in Spain) firm of scammers; continued charging crippling fees while victims’ funds dwindled away; extorted early exit penalties from victims unfairly and unreasonably; failed to take any action to stem the torrent of huge losses of millions of pounds’ worth of retirement savings for many years. And now it is failing to uphold the victims’ complaints.

OMI has been in receipt of a number of complaints (and will be in receipt of numerous further ones) regarding their negligence and facilitation of financial crime in offshore financial services. OMI has not upheld these complaints – and indeed has neglected to grasp the extent of their own multiple failings and errors.

The existing complaints do relate to serious regulatory breaches and fraud – as well as failing to adhere to OMI’s own terms and conditions. Much of the fraud was caused by the financial advisory firm: Continental Wealth Trust (which traded as Continental Wealth Management). However, the firm’s fraud was only successful because OMI facilitated it.

The complaints submitted to date include:
- That investments were made into high-risk professional-investor-only funds. Many of these failed and caused huge losses to victims’ funds.
- That OMI paid commissions/fees to CWM who not only held no investment licence – but also held no license of any kind.
- As a result of the huge, un-disclosed commission paid to CWM – an unlicensed firm – OMI imposes crippling early surrender charges on the victims.
OMI has responded that they are “very sympathetic to victims’ concerns” and has responded that it appreciates what a very worrying time this must be for those who have lost such huge amounts of their life savings.

OMI has also stated that the roles and responsibilities of all the parties involved with this fraud have got to be clarified. However, OMI claims – entirely disingenuously – it does not want victims to get the feeling it is trying to distance itself from the grievances.

In order to address what it refers to as “concerns”, OMI has attempted to “explain” matters. The use of the word “concerns” is obviously a really crass clanger on the part of OMI, since the victims are absolutely not just CONCERNED – they are furious, terrified and devastated at their dreadful losses. Some victims are suicidal, and many have had their health seriously compromised.

OMI has described the EEIB as being held by the trustee for the benefit of a member of their pension scheme, enabling policyholders to hold a “wide range of investments in one tax-efficient product wrapper”. OMI goes on to claim that policyholders and their investment advisers “have complete flexibility over the investments they place inside the EEIB”.

Some or all of the above may be true. However, that does not make it right that OMI has allowed unlicensed advisers to place clearly unsuitable investments inside their wrappers. Further, it does not make it right that OMI then stood by and watched the investments fail for many years AND DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING EXCEPT KEEP ON TAKING FEES BASED ON THE ORIGINAL VALUE – AND NOT THE REDUCED VALUE OF THE FUND.

OMI claims that it reviews all investments to ensure they meet Irish regulatory requirements, and their own administration requirements.

If this is indeed true, it is a very serious indictment of the Irish regulator if their requirements are so appallingly lax. What OMI seems to be claiming is that both the Central Bank of Ireland and OMI have such low standards that they will allow low-risk pension savers to have their retirement funds invested purely in high-risk, professional-investor-only structured notes. If this is true, then the regulator is as bad as OMI in condoning an investment strategy which has no regard for suitability, liquidity, diversity and risk tolerance.

In fact, the Central Bank of Ireland has stated that it carried out a review of suitability requirements in 2017 and found that: “governance structures for the identification and treatment of vulnerable clients were absent or ineffective”. The CWM victims were about as vulnerable as it was possible to get – as their retirement savings were systematically and inexorably destroyed. And OMI’s governance structure was about as absent and ineffective as it is possible to get while it stood by and didn’t even bother to raise a red flag on the whole disaster as it unfolded.

There was no jangling of alarm bells as OMI watched millions of pounds wiped out. There was no expression of concern that the same toxic structured notes which had failed in earlier years were bought again and again by the same unlicensed scammers. There was no governance to protect new vulnerable victims from having their funds destroyed from 2015 onwards in the same way hundreds of victims had suffered in previous years.

OMI has claimed that customers/their appointed advisers are responsible for the suitability assessment and selection of the investments held in the policy – and that “it is important that customers read the prospectus/offering documents of investments carefully, before making any investment decisions”. However, OMI watched wholesale destruction taking place inside its own wrappers and took no action. Had OMI asked a few simple questions they would have found the following:
1. The victims were being advised by a known firm of scammers which had been involved in cold calling in the Evergreen pension liberation scam in 2012
2. The victims were being advised by a firm which was not licensed at all – for anything
3. The victims had ALL insisted they wanted either low risk or no risk investments as they could not afford to lose any part of their retirement savings
4. The victims had no idea their retirement savings were being invested in high-risk, professional-investor-only structured notes
5. The victims’ signatures were repeatedly forged on the dealing instructions
6. The victims were duped into a false sense of security when losses started to be reported on their statements by the scammers claiming these were not genuine losses but only “paper losses”
7. The victims had no idea how high the charges and commissions were as these were not disclosed either by the scammers or by OMI
8. The victims were not consulted as to whether they wanted or needed an entirely useless and exorbitantly expensive insurance bond
9. The victims were unaware that tied agents are illegal in Spain
10. The victims were unaware of the huge fees and commissions which were concealed by both the scammers and OMI
OMI claims that term 12 of the EEIB policy terms states that it is the policyholder who bears the risk of investment. But then OMI goes on to assert that the policyholder was the trustee who would be classed as a professional investor.

So OMI has got to make up its mind – it has already stated that: “customers/their appointed advisers are responsible for the suitability assessment and selection of the investments held in the policy”. So who is the customer? The victim or the trustee? And whom did the adviser advise – the customer or the trustee? Or OMI?

OMI goes on to refer to term 11.4 of the policy which confirms that it may allow investment into professional or experienced investor funds because it owns the investments held within the EEIB, rather than the policyholder.

So, who gave the advice and to whom? OMI can’t seem to make up its mind who the customer is: the victim; the trustee or OMI itself. If OMI is the customer, why is it charging the victim fees?

OMI goes on to quote policy term 11.4.1 – which apparently clearly highlights that professional-investor-only funds carry a high degree of risk. So who is taking the risk? The victim, the trustee or OMI?

Let us ask ourselves, where did the original funds come from? Not the trustee; not OMI; but the victim.

OMI then procedes to claim that it will “only accept applications via regulated financial advisers”. But Inter-Alliance was not licensed to provide investment advice – or indeed insurance advice. CWM was not licensed either. So why did OMI accept applications from unlicensed advisors (who were also known scammers)? Also, OMI failed to identify that tied (insurance) agents are illegal in Spain – so it shouldn’t have been dealing with them at all – let alone paying them huge commissions.

OMI states that CWM was a member of Inter-Alliance WorldNet, and obtained their authorization to act via that membership. But this is not true – Inter-Alliance was not licensed and therefore neither was CWM. The application form may, in some cases, have confirmed the appointment of CWM as investment adviser with full discretion – but why didn’t OMI check that CWM was licensed? In fact, most of the victims were under the impression that they would be consulted on the investments and that their risk tolerance would be respected – but this never happened in any of the cases.

OMI goes on to claim that CWM was able to submit investment instructions directly to OMI, without consulting the trustees. But that isn’t true either: dealing instructions were sent to the trustees first, and then the trustees sent on new instructions. How can OMI not even know how its own internal systems work?

OMI concludes that it is sorry the complaining investor is “disappointed with the performance of some of the investments selected by CWM” and then goes on to claim the investments “met the criteria for a permitted asset under the EEIB policy terms”.

So who at OMI was responsible for writing and updating EEIB policy terms? Did this person not notice the losses repeatedly decimating the funds? Did this person not see the same investment failures repeating in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017? Did this person not question whether the policy terms ought to be revised somewhat? The answer to these questions is, inevitably, a resounding and disgraceful “NO”.

OMI is now refusing to refund or waive early withdrawal charges on the basis that CWM was an appointed investment adviser. This is because OMI initially paid a big chunk of commission to CWM – an unlicensed adviser and known scammer. If a victim wants to get out of the toxic, pointless insurance wrapper, in order to put a stop to the exorbitant fees taken quarterly out of the fund – and based on the original value rather than the decimated value of the fund – he basically has to refund the commission OMI paid to the scammers.

The victims remain dissatisfied with OMI’s response, and the complaint is now being referred to the Irish Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. OMI has deliberately misunderstood and overlooked every aspect of the victims’ complaints and failed to address even the most basic issues surrounding OMI’s failures and negligence.

OMI has facilitated financial crime over a period of many years; stood by while innocent victims’ retirement savings were destroyed; paid huge commissions to an unlicensed (and illegal in Spain) firm of scammers; continued charging crippling fees while victims’ funds dwindled away; extorted early exit penalties from victims unfairly and unreasonably; failed to take any action to stem the torrent of huge losses of millions of pounds’ worth of retirement savings for many years. And now it is failing to uphold the victims’ complaints.
February 22, 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
James Hay + Elysian Bio fuel = Pension Liberation Scam
James Hay, the first UK SIPPS provider, could face tax charges of up to £20 million from HMRC, related to the Elysian Bio Fuel investment scam (sorry: scheme). Elysian Bio Fuels, which owned a bioethanol plant in the US and a renewable fuels refinery in the UK, was also used by other SIPPS providers such as Suffolk Life.

Money Marketing states : “Sipp investors are facing millions in write downs on a high-risk bio fuel investment, which has also been linked to a suspected pension liberation scam.”

Unsurprisingly, James Hay has launched an appeal against the tax charges AND as of January, has also slipped in a ban on non-standard investments including overseas commercial property, storage pods and carbon credits to be bought through its SIPPS platform.

We say to James Hay, “too little, too late, mate!”

Through SIPPS provided by James Hay, around 500 clients put £55m in to Elysian Bio Fuels. Yes, that´s 500 retail investors, placed into high-risk toxic investments, totally unsuitable for pensions. The business failed in 2015. James Hay claim that they did not advise their members AND limited their role to pension administration. Whilst they may not have directly advised their members, they did, however, allow crooked advisers to buy shares in Elysian Bio Fuels for the purpose of Pension Liberation.

The sheer act of letting crooked advisers advise their trusting members, whilst turning a blind eye to fraud, makes James Hay guilty in anybody´s book. How long can so called legitimate SIPPS providers continue to get away with this sheer negligence of their members´ funds?

Below is an email exchange between Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions, his lawyer Alan Fowler and Angela South of Magna Wealth. This thread describes exactly how the Elysian Bio Fuels/James Hay liberation scam worked.

From: Alan Fowler <fowlerpts@gmail.com>
Date: 17 October 2013 21:28:21 BST
To: William Perkins <billperkins62@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: a solution for you !

Interesting….but I’m amazed that reputable SIPP providers will countenance this. Who’s making the loans? I’m not sure I see how the SIPP pays the member (or anyone for that matter) £100k – with what/who’s money? And won’t the SIPP need to verify that the shares in Xco are actually worth £100k. That said, if the IFA is doing these, it seems the process works………..

Regards, Alan

**************************************************************************

From: Stephen Ward <SWard@ppsespana.com>

Subject: Re: a solution for you !

Date: 17 October 2013 20:58:15 BST

To: billperkins <billperkins62@gmail.com>

Cc: Alan Fowler <fowlerpts@gmail.com>

The arrangement I heard about today works like this as an example ( ignoring fees) and this is the simplistic version …
1. Client borrows 16k or thereabouts (this is available in the package)
2. He gets a non recourse loan (which will not be repaid) of £84k
3. He buys shares in Xco for £100k. These are listed on the CISX ( name is Elysium)
4. Transfers £100k to James Hay SIPP
5. SIPP pays member £100k for the shares .,,,
6. Member repays the 16k and trousers £84k
My IFA connection has done 40 of them so far

Advice to transfer to the SIPP is from an FCA regulated IFA

James Hay and Suffolk Life know the full structure and are happy with it ….

Fees ….. On transfer to SIPP ( need to agree the commercials with the IFA)

Regards

Stephen

**************************************************************************

From: Stephen Ward [mailto:SWard@ppsespana.com]
Sent: 18 October 2013 10:01
To: Angela (South – Magna Wealth)
Subject: FW: QROPS opportunity
Importance: High

Morning Angela

I was not expecting such a fast green light !

But it seems to me that a green light is what we have

The next step is a test case I guess ….. ? I may have one but just need to check his fund value.

Putting my provider hat on I do not need to understand the details of the back end engineering, the fact its OK with James Hay is good enough for me.

**************************************************************

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.

Follow Pension Life on twitter to keep up with all things pension related, good and bad.
February 8, 2018
HAVE YOU HEARD OF PAUL HERD? HE’S AT ELITE WEALTH MANAGEMENT.

HAVE YOU HEARD OF PAUL HERD? HE’S AT ELITE WEALTH MANAGEMENT.

Before joining Elite Wealth Management, Paul Herd was with a firm called MFS Partnership – which went belly up. Now, I have never run a financial advisory firm. If I had a fanciful idea of starting one, I probably wouldn’t know where to start – but one thing is for sure: I would not employ anybody who had caused clients to lose £290k of their retirement savings.

It has been widely reported in the media during January and February 2018 that Paul Herd invested his clients’ pension funds in the New Earth Recycling fund – which is now worthless. Herd’s victims, David and Sheila Solomon, were awarded £500k in compensation by the court, but the firm – MFS – also went belly up. So the Solomon´s had to fall back on the FSCS and only got £50k each. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but still nowhere near their £290 original pot which they had entrusted to their adviser, Paul Herd.

This begs the question, why Paul Herd invested his clients’ fund in the New Earth Recycling fund. As in, all of it. The answer lies, of course, in the fact that Mr. Herd had heard that New Earth was paying big fat introduction commissions. And he had probably also herd (sorry, heard) that lots of scammers at leading scamming factory in Dubai, Holborn Assets, had got rich conning their victims into toxic crap like New Earth.

Why on earth would any adviser put his clients into a fund which was clearly described in the fund’s offering document as being high risk? “Substantial recovery of value from those investments may be unlikely”. The Premier New Earth Recycling fund was set up by Premier Group in 2012 (originally to invest in bamboo plantations) and was also described in its offering documents as being high risk.

Paul Herd, ex MFS Partnership, has since started working at Elite Wealth Management. Director Alan Powell describes Herd as having “extensive knowledge of retirement and pensions”. I think Mr. Powell has probably missed out the most important bit – which is that Paul Herd obviously has extensive knowledge of how to flush a pension fund down the toilet.

Alan Powell has been reported as saying that he believes in giving people a second chance. He was, apparently, actually referring to “financial adviser” Paul Herd. He has also said that he is leaving it to the FCA to decide whether Paul Herd is fit and proper to work in a financial advisory firm. So I am going to give Mr. Powell some friendly advice:

GET SHOT OF PAUL HERD!

www.cii.co.uk still list Paul Herd as a member despite his previous company, MFS Partnership´s, misdemeanors!

David and Sheila Solomon – Herd’s victims – have gone through years of hell due to Herd’s greed and negligence. They are astonished that Herd can carry on – business as usual. Does Powell have no conscience? No sense of the damage he is inevitably doing to his own firm? Who, in their right mind, would want to use a firm which employs an adviser who negligently invested his clients’ funds in a high-risk asset?

When I first read this story, it made me want to cry. If Alan Powell really believed in giving people a “second chance”, wouldn’t he would be paying Paul Herd’s salary to the Solomons who are facing poverty in retirement? Powell is employing a man who invested his clients’ pension funds into a high-risk and entirely unsuitable investment and caused the victims to lose £290k.

I don’t know if Mr. Powell is doing anything to help the Solomons. But I do know that he is helping Paul Herd to carry on – business as usual.

February 6, 2018
BBC 4’s You & Yours Exposes Blackmore Global Pension Scam

BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours reports on three victims of a pension investment scam called Blackmore Global, two of whom were cold called by David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial.

The three victims were persuaded to transfer their funds from secure company pensions into QROPS (Qualifying Overseas Pension Schemes). The victims have since struggled to track or recoup their investments in the Blackmore Global fund.

BBC´s You & Yours image of Stephen Sefton

Stephen Sefton, a driving instructor from Milton Keynes, was the main focus of the You & Your´s program. Most of his pension fund had been invested through the overseas pension scheme into a fund called Blackmore Global. The rest had gone into an investment fund in Malta. A year later disaster struck.

Stephen became a member of Pension Life after he was unable to track and evaluate his overseas pension investment. Upon calling the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), he was informed that his adviser – David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial – was not regulated to give investment advice. Furthermore, the fund in Malta was a professional investor fund only and was not suitable for a retail investor like him.

Stephen, taking advantage of the new pension rules, had transferred £415,000 of his company pension scheme into a new pension in 2015. He wanted to access his money early and give some to his children. He had found the advisory firm online; seen the company’s FCA registration number of David Vilka’s firm (Square Mile International Financial based in Prague) at the bottom of the firm’s letters. What he did not realise, was that the firm was only regulated for insurance mediation, and not investment advice.

Stephen, managed to get most of his money back after pursuing his case for many months. However, he lost £30,000 of his investment as the fund in Malta dropped in value at the time of withdrawing his money.

Having succeeded in recouping a good chunk of his money, he received an email from Square Mile International Financial offering him a bribe of £6,000 to cease all contact with outside sources. This included regulatory authorities and Action Fraud!

David Vilka, one of Square Mile International Financial’s directors, claims this to be incorrect. Instead suggesting the amount was a goodwill gesture to close the matter amicably.

Unfortunately Stephen Sefton’s recovery of his money is a minority case, many other victims of the Blackmore Global Pension Scam are finding it difficult to recover their money.

David Vilka insists that Square Mile International Financial is a completely legitimate firm. He claims the firm has been “inspected and verified in full by numerous regulators”. Furthermore, Stephen’s reports to Action Fraud were returned saying it had not identified any leads to follow up.

The BBC also reported about another victim called Paul (not his real name):

“Paul” agreed to have his £100,000 pension fund transferred into another pension scheme and then invested in the Blackmore Global fund. This was after being cold-called by another company called Aspinal Chase who offered him a free pension review.

The small print stated investments were locked in for 10 years, which was way beyond Paul’s 60^th Birthday. This was not mentioned to Paul when he made the transfer. Fortunately he managed to escape the lock-in, however he has still been unable to access his funds.

Paul told You and Yours “I’ve got three grandchildren. I’d like to take them all to Disneyworld in America. I want to spend the money I’ve earned over the years. A bit of that money would pay off the last bit of my mortgage, so that is a big chunk of my future. I feel as though I’ve let the family down.”

The perpetrators – Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh – are listed as Blackmore Global’s directors in a fund document seen by Radio 4’s You & Yours program, which shows they each earn salaries of £20,000 a year.

David Vilka was also the financial adviser for Paul and also for the third victim reported, Jacqueline. Another cold-call victim of Aspinal Chase, Jacqueline has had no access to her funds.

Blackmore Global’s directors have refused to release the £50,000 she invested. You & Yours quoted, Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh: who said, only allowed redemption´s in exceptional circumstances to “protect the integrity of the investment for its other stakeholders”.

Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh deny that their company, would engage in cold calling or pension advice. They claimed that any advice must have been given by separate, regulated financial advisers.

Nunn and McCreesh also say they have no financial relationship with David Vilka or Square Mile International Financial. In fact, they state they are totally independent from them! However, there has to be a good reason why Vilka has invested so many of his victims’ pension funds in the Blackmore Global fund – and risked criminal prosecution because Blackmore Global is a UCIS (Unregulated, Collective, Investment Scheme) which is illegal to promote to UK residents.

Pension Life is aware of a further 38 victims cold called by Aspinal Chase, Nunn & McCreesh´s firm. Originally being advised to transfer their funds into a Hong Kong QROPS, the victims´ funds finally made their way to the Blackmore Global fund. The total amount of funds scammed from these UK resident victims amounts to nearly £1,000,000!

To listen to the broadcast on the BBC’s website, click here.

To read the news story based on the You & Yours report, click here.

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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 31, 2018
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November 7, 2017
HYPOCRISY BY PARKER – HOLBORN ASSETS DUBAI – MONTFORT INTERNATIONAL

Holborn Assets’ Bob Parker commits a gloat too far.

Holborn Assets Dubai – under the questionable leadership of Bob Parker – has been responsible for ruining quite a number of victims’ pensions. With a deft waggle of the Holborn Assets magic wand, a pension transferred from a gold-plated final salary scheme can be reduced by at least 50% in just a couple of years. Trouble is, the magic kind of runs out of steam if asked to work in reverse.

Glynis Broadfoot and various other victims in Spain were “advised” by dodgy Holborn Assets’ advisers to transfer their pensions into a QROPS with Gower Pensions in Guernsey. Then the victims’ pensions were invested in toxic, illiquid, high-risk, professional-investor-only funds and shrank relentlessly. The problem was that Holborn Assets had no license to provide pension or investment advice in Spain. This is the sort of scam that the CNMV, the Spanish investment regulator, refers to as being operated by “chiringuitos” (bar flies) which translates as “scammers”. And the UK Pensions Regulator clearly refers to scammers as criminals.

Holborn Assets’ home – a low-rise advisory firm amongst the high-rise buildings

So why is Bob Parker – from Dubai – gloating over Geraint Davies from Surrey? OK, Geraint’s firm Montfort International has been sanctioned – and very publicly so. And, knowing Geraint I believe he will take his punishment pragmatically and stoically. He has fought back from other challenges in the past and he will fight back from this. But at the end of the day, whatever other faults he may have, he does have respect for the establishment, the law, the regulators and the ethical sector of the financial advisory profession.

I suspect – if Geraint saw Bob the Knob’s post on the LinkedIn QROPS group – he will have had an ironic chuckle at the Bible-thumper’s hypocrisy. And if he had known that Bob’s response to his various victims’ distress and pleas for help had been “buzz off – case closed” he would most probably have been enraged that Parker the Not-So-Magic Marker should remark on the mote in Geraint’s eye and cynically gloss over the socking great forest in his own.

Of course, Geraint himself will certainly know that Parker’s top salesman is Paul Reynolds who has been sanctioned by the FCA (banned from regulated activities due to lack integrity and fined nearly £300k) and may even have had a wry smile to himself that a man who professes to be a devout Christian is prepared to employ a publicly-condemned pariah of the profession. But, of course, Reynolds is Holborn Assets’ best salesman – flogging toxic assets to ruin their clients – so it is worth keeping him in order to keep the wheels of Parker’s Rolls Royce well oiled.

So, am just wondering how the devout Christian Bob Parker is getting Holborn Assets’ DB pension transfers done now? What dodgy outfit is he using? Because it won’t be anything ethical or honourable. And whichever firm it is, it will be helping Holborn Assets ruin hundreds – or even thousands – of victims have their pensions decimated by execrable, unregulated investment advice.

Despite Parker’s hypocritical post on LinkedIn, I think Geraint Davies’ firm Montfort comes out of this considerably better than Holborn Assets. I have no doubt Geraint will have more success in plucking the mote out of his eye than Parker will in taking a whole sawmill out of his.

July 3, 2017
WHAT IS WORSE? A SCAMMER OR A SCAMMER’S LAWYER?

Scammers are loathed by victims, regulators, police, ombudsmen and financial services professionals whose professional reputations are compromised by the nefarious practices of the scam merchants. But however damning the hard evidence is about the scams and the various promoters, introducers, advisers, administrators behind them, the scammers still protest their innocence.

Even when there are announcements and articles in the public domain confirming criminal investigations, winding up petitions, arrests, Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations, regulatory intervention and sanctions, the scammers still try to protest that they are innocent and that the damage done to the victims is everybody else’s fault but theirs.

But as soon as I publish something on the Pension Life blog, to inform and warn the public, the scammers’ solicitors swoop like vultures with their cease and desist letters – threatening defamation proceedings. Never mind the £ millions lost to hundreds or even thousands of victims – many of whom are worried sick about losing their pensions; never mind the tax demands which are driving the victims to complete despair and could result in HMRC making them bankrupt; never mind the heart attacks, strokes and other fatal illnesses brought on by stress and sleepless nights. The scammers’ solicitors pull out all the stops – even going so far as to threaten the Pension Life web host and complain to Google about Pension Life’s website blogs.

I’ve been through this with – among others – Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions – who actually took me to court for upsetting his “picky” clients (Ward didn’t even turn up); Paul Baxendale-Walker, the disgraced former barrister (struck off) and porn star; XXXX XXXX of Global Partners Ltd and The Pensions Reporter (now under investigation by the SFO);and now Peter Moat of Fast Pensions (see Sam Brodbeck’s article of 1.7.2017).

In fact all these solicitors – including DWF, Mishcon de Reya, Carter Ruck, Manleys Law, Molins & Silva et al, all bleat that the Pension Life blogs are harming their clients by “causing reputational damage generating huge financial damages and danger of losing business interests and opportunities”. But not so much a squeak about the huge financial damages the scammers they represent cause to the victims who are in danger of losing their homes.

And not a word about the crippling financial damages the scammers they represent cause to the victims who are in danger of losing their homes.

Below is the email exchange between Peter and Sara Moat’s solicitor Monica Caellas and me dated 27th June 2017. Worth noting she has not responded. Perhaps her website, email and telephones have been hit by the same virus as appears to afflict the Moats and Fast Pensions?

Ms. Brooks:

We hereby contact you in name and on behalf of our clients, Ms. Sara Grace Moat and Mr. Peter Daniel Moat, in connection with the statements set forth in the article “Peter Moat and Sara Moat – Fast Pensions” (hereinafter, the “Article”) included in the website https://pension-life.com/peter-moat-sara-moat-fast-pensions/ since May 18, 2017. I am enormously relieved that you have contacted me and would be most grateful if you would be kind enough to act as intermediary in relation to many hundreds of victims who have been scammed out of their pensions. As you can imagine, this is an extremely worrying time for these people and some of them are now receiving tax demands from HMRC as the Moats were operating pension liberation fraud as part of the “package”.

Some of the statements of the Article are extremely serious and could be constitutive of various crimes sanctioned by the Spanish Criminal Code; among them, serious offences of defamations and calumnies. I do not agree that the Moats’ actions include defamation and calumnies – but they certainly involve pension, tax and investment fraud.

FAST PENSIONS is a UK Limited Company licensed by HMRC. No it is not. HMRC do not license companies in the UK. HMRC registers pension schemes, but this implies no approval or license.

Ms. Sara Moat is the sole Director and the sole shareholder of FAST PENSIONS. Her husband, Mr. Peter Moat is the owner and administrator of Blue Property Group, a Group of corporations that has nothing to do with FAST PENSIONS. From a corporate point of view you are correct, however, Peter Moat was the controlling mind behind the company and has been masquerading as “James Porter” in his communications with the victims to attempt to conceal his involvement. Also, I think you will find that Blue Property Group has gone bust and owes money to creditors all over the Costa Blanca.

With the Article you have caused serious confusion against third parties and it is hurting my clients and their companies. I regret that neither the victims nor I will have any sympathy whatsoever with any hurt your clients are experiencing. They have hundreds of victims’ pensions in limbo – and despite numerous Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations, no transfers out (which is a UK citizen’s legal right) have been facilitated. The victims of this scam include several deaths whereby the deceased pension member’s family has not been able to benefit from the pension fund as required by law in the UK.

In particular, the Article expressly and roundly states “There have been a number of Pension Ombudsman determinations which expressed concerns about the maladministration of the unlicensed firm [Fast Pensions] owned by the Moats”. Yes. This is in the public domain on the Pensions Ombudsman’s website.

In this sense, you claimed that a number of very distressed and worried members of the Fast Pensions scheme had contacted you, while those four hundred worried members have not directly contacted FAST PENSIONS itself. I cannot comment on how many worried members have directly contacted Sara and Peter Moat (masquerading as “James Porter”) direct. Many may have attempted to do so but the Moats have made this impossible by disabling their website and emails and not answering their phones. Their claims that the website, email and phone number have all been hit by a “mystery virus” are simply not credible.

As a consequence of the alleged existing claims you contacted Mr. James Porter, the person in charge of leading with any pension queries for Fast Pensions and that has nothing to do with Mr. Moat, despite your suggestions of identifying them as the same person. That is not correct. Peter Moat contacted me, pretending to be “James Porter”.

Anyhow, and after being correctly assisted by Mr. Porter, you claimed that he takes days to respond and you interpreted that as a “deliberate attempt to make it difficult to contact anyone at Fast Pensions”, which is untrue, since all queries have been responded to and dealt with quickly. I am afraid you do not know the facts. Numerous victims have attested to the fact that their desperate pleas to transfer out have been ignored.

If there were clients with concerns they would contact FAST PENSIONS in the First instance to get these resolve. Why don’t you try contacting Fast Pensions and let me know how “fast” they respond? A journalist tried to contact them just now and got this response: Your message wasn’t delivered to james.porter@fastpensions.co.ukbecause the domain fastpensions.co.uk couldn’t be found.

Moreover, in the Article you have made several statements that make Mr. Peter Moat, Ms. Sara Moat, FAST PENSIONS and all of Mr. Peter Moats companies look like a scam. Then I have done my job properly. They are all a scam.

For example, by trying to link Mr. and Ms. Moat as well as FAST PENSIONS to Mr. Sthephen Ward. Also, and more seriously, you stated that you are afraid that the professional environment of Mr. and Ms. Moat “has undeniably got all the hallmarks of a typical, bog standard scam”. And you insisted: “It looks, feels, smells like a scam”. And I stand by all of that. And so does the Pensions Ombudsman.

As a consequence thereof, there are actually a huge number of parties affected by the Article, Peter Moat and his associated companies, Ms. Moat and FAST PENSIONS. The unjustified reputational damage caused by the Article is generating huge financial damages and is putting Mr. Peter Moat and his companies in danger of losing business interests and opportunities. Perhaps you would like to ask some of the victims how they feel about poor Mr. and Mrs. Moat losing business interests and opportunities?

Based on all the foregoing, and without prejudice to the express reservation of legal actions that correspond to my clients, through this communication you are FORMALLY REQUIRED TO IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THE ARTICLE FROM THE WEBSITE AND STOP DISSEMINATING IT THROUGH INTERNET. I will happily reach an agreement with you Monica: you get Sara and Peter Moat to return all the victims’ pensions to them immediately – in full plus interest – and I will remove the article.

Otherwise, we will be forced to exercise the corresponding judicial actions, especially criminal ones, to protect our clients in defense of his freedom and other rights that protect them. I hope you will exercise criminal judicial actions against your clients who have scammed hundreds of victims out of their pensions. Meanwhile, a little friendly advice – as a Spanish lawyer you clearly do not understand UK law, so please tread very carefully. You clearly do not know the facts and are in danger of defending a party which has clearly contravened UK law and compromising your own standing as a legal practitioner in Spain.

Sincerely,

Mònica Caellas

Advocada

Aribau 198, planta 5                 José Abascal 56, planta 6

08036 Barcelona                       28003 Madrid

Tel. 0034 934 152 244              Tel. 0034 913 103 008

Fax 0034 934 160 693              Fax 0034 913 915 158

www.molins-silva.com

July 3, 2017
HOLBORN ASSETS’ NEW CALCULATOR

Holborn Assets’ Bob Parker needs a bit of help with his ‘rithmetic

Holborn Assets has been trying to calculate how much victim Glynis Broadfoot is due in compensation for loss to her pension fund invested by them for the past five years. But it is an uphill struggle and I am not entirely sure that poor old Bob Parker hasn’t either lost his marbles altogether, or never actually did maths in the first place. Either way I’ve decided to buy him a new calculator.

Let’s look at the maths – they are quite straightforward. When Holborn Assets first approached Mrs. Broadfoot, they promised her a “free” pension transfer from her final salary scheme with her local authority employer into a QROPS with Gower Pensions. They assured her this was in her best interests.

Five years and thousands of sleepless nights later, Mrs. Broadfoot has watched the value of her pension fund sink relentlessly while Holborn Assets has showed not a drop of concern and even refused to talk to her about it. They have said “the case is closed”.

To give them their due, Holborn Assets has now at last started coming to the table and have been making offers of compensation for Mrs. Braodfoot’s losses. They started at thruppence and have now upped their offer to £35,000. But let’s have a look at the maths:

Original cash equivalent transfer = £195,105

Actual transfer = £146,379

Big chunk of money inexplicably got lost = £48,726

At a cautious low-risk growth of 4% per year, pension should now be worth £178,000

But Mrs. Broadfoot has £106,730 left of her pension thanks to Holborn Assets

So, even forgetting the £48k that Holborn “lost”, Mrs. Broadfoot needs £71,270 to put her back to where she should be. And then there is compensation for the damage this has done to her health for five years.

So come on Bob, do the maths! We all know Paul Reynolds is making you a fortune so you can afford to pay proper compensation to your victim.

And another thing, Holborn Assets is using cold-calling scammers in Manchester to sign up more victims. Here in Spain, the leads generated by this scam are followed up by Holborn Assets salesman Jason Ryder who purports to have an office in Barcelona and another one in Marbella.

Just hope it is not bank of Dunlop!

Now, come on Uncle Bob, you know Holborn Assets has no license to operate in Spain or provide financial, pension or investment advice here. That is how Mrs. Broadfoot got scammed in the first place and lost such a huge chunk of her pension. So cold calling, scamming, destroying pensions, offering derisory compensation, ignoring a victim’s pleas for help…..not very nice. Get your chequebook out mate!

Finally, how is Paul Reynolds doing? I met him at your office in 2015 you know. He is quite handsome. I hear he is your best salesmen which is why you won’t get rid of him – he is making you so much money.

And what about your 40+ other “consultants”? Don’t any of them care about your firm’s professional reputation?

June 5, 2017