Tag: Peter Moat

  • BRIDGEBANK CAPITAL AND THE FAST PENSION SCAM

    BRIDGEBANK CAPITAL AND THE FAST PENSION SCAM

    We know Fast Pensions is a scam - but is Bridgebank Capital No. 5 kosher?
    Frantic with worry – the Fast Pensions victims now know their pension funds are being used for property loans.

    Bridgebank Capital seems to be a bona fide property loan company – providing bridging and development finance. Nothing wrong with that.

     

    But Bridgebank Capital No. 5 seems to be full of Fast Pensions money and locked into term loans secured on a variety of domestic and commercial properties.  Each charge refers to the trustees of four of the Fast Pensions schemes: DM1, FP1, EP1 and Leafield.  The trustees of each of these schemes are clearly identified at Companies House as Sara Moat and Martin Peacock.  (Interestingly, Sara Moat is telling victims that “the trustees” have to decide what happens to the pension monies – while hiding the fact that she is the trustee).

    Of great concern is the fact that one of the borrowers, Clearclose, has gone bust owing the pension fund nearly £900k.

    The Pensions Ombudsman has made 18 determinations against Fast Pensions – but Sara and Peter Moat of Fast Pensions have studiously ignored them.  I sent links to all of the background to Fast Pensions to Laurence Goodman of Bridgebank Capital on 6th August 2017:

    Dear Mr. Goodman

    It was good to speak to you on Friday.
    First of all, may I say that I recognise that Bridgebank Capital is a bona fide finance company and I mean no criticism against you or your company in the summary I am setting out below.  I have tried to summarise the position in a bullet-point series of statements to make this as easy to understand as possible.
    Once you have read and digested this, please can we start a dialogue about what happens next.  What the members need to know, is how much do these various loans/charges/mortgages in favour of the four Fast Pensions schemes realise when they mature, and what will happen to the money.  I realise you are restricted to an extent in terms of what you can tell me, but there are many Fast Pensions victims who will happily provide you with letters of authority as they are the beneficiaries of the pension schemes and have a legal right to know what has happened to their pension funds.
    Best, Angie
    —————-
    * There are hundreds of members of various pension schemes (including DM1, FP1, EP1 and Leafield) run by Peter and Sara Moat of Fast Pensions – a pensions administration company.
    * The Moats maintain they are not the trustees of the schemes.  Peter Moat (masquerading as “James Porter”) told me the trustee was a company called FP Scheme Trustees, of which one Jane Wright is sole director.  She was an employee of Moat’s at his former company Blu Properties in Javea which folded and it is believed she was paid to be the director of this company.
    * The charges registered at Companies House for Bridgebank Capital No. 5 show all the loans as being in favour of Sara Moat and Martin Peacock (an associate of Peter Moat’s) as trustees of the Fast Pensions schemes.
    * The various Fast Pensions schemes – including DM1, FP1, EP1 and Leafield – I believe are all bogus occupational schemes.  When I say bogus, what I mean is that they were not set up to provide genuine pensions for employees of a company which intended to trade and create jobs, but merely as a vehicle for a pension liberation scam.
    * Peter Moat told me (while he was masquerading as a “James Porter”) that the underlying assets of the Fast Pensions schemes were “invested in Bridgebank Capital” and also in another loan company called Pamplona Capital Partners.  Clearly, having the underlying assets of a pension scheme solely “invested” in property loans is not acceptable.  A pension scheme is required to have low-risk, liquid assets as members have a statutory right to a transfer and need to be able to take their 25% tax-free lump sum at age 55, or retire or die.
    * The Moats have failed dismally to communicate with the members or respond to transfer requests for a long period of time – causing considerable distress to the victims.  The Pensions Ombudsman has made a large number of determinations in response to complaints by the victims and has ordered Fast Pensions to allow the victims to transfer out and pay compensation for their distress.  These 18 determinations have all been ignored by Fast Pensions:
    Needless to say, there is no evidence that the Moats have complied with any of these determinations and the victims themselves report that they have not.
    * Alongside the pension transfers and lending of the pension funds to Bridgebank Capital No. 5, the Moats were operating pension liberation in the form of loans from Moat’s companies Blu Debt Management and Umbrella Loans.  Victims were told these loans were not connected to the pension transfers and would not be taxable.  HMRC is now sending out tax demands in respect of these loans.
    * There are grave concerns about the Bridgebank Capital No. 5 loans for the following reasons:
    1. We do not know what the total amount lent to Bridgebank Capital is
    2. There are multiple loans to the same parties
    3. One borrower is in liquidation
    4, We do not know what the terms of the loans or the interest payable are
    * The greatest concern is that if any part of the money is recoverable and is paid back into the control of the Moats, it will simply “disappear” again and not be available for the benefit of the members who are the ultimate beneficiaries.

     

     

  • WHAT IS WORSE? A SCAMMER OR A SCAMMER’S LAWYER?

    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

     

  • PETER MOAT AND SARA MOAT – FAST PENSIONS

    See how fast your pension can disappear?

    There is growing concern about Peter Moat and Sara Moat of Fast Pensions.  There have been a number of Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations which expressed concerns about the maladministration of the unlicensed firm owned/run by the Moats.

    One of these was reported by FT Adviser on 10th May 2017:

    Fast Pensions told to pay £79k death benefit

    The article stated the Pensions Ombudsman had told Fast Pensions it must pay out a death benefit to the widow of a former client after the company was accused of purposely delaying payments and quoted the Ombudsman as saying: “We have dealt with a number of other cases recently involving Fast Pensions, where there have been continued failures to respond to requests.”
    The Ombudsman went on to cite delays and maladministration on the part of Fast Pensions which caused much distress and inconvenience to the complainant.  Apparently, Fast Pensions has failed to comment and Karen Johnston, Deputy Pensions Ombudsman, has said: “We have dealt with a number of other cases recently involving Fast Pensions, where there have been continued failures to respond to requests and payment/transfer applications. Fast Pensions has also failed to communicate effectively with this office.”
    A number of very distressed and worried members of the Fast Pensions scheme have contacted me and asked me to help them find out why they can’t transfer their pensions out (as is their statutory right).  I filled in the contact form on the Fast Pensions website (there was no address, email or contact number on the site) and was contacted by James Porter. He told me that after some administrative problems in 2016, he had been appointed in January 2017 to look after the pension queries for Fast Pensions.
    He also said he was dealing with all the members and the Ombudsman.  However, the members have claimed Porter takes days to respond and that Fast Pensions have failed to pay compensation they were awarded and to facilitate transfers out.
    CONTACT DETAILS
    Porter’s email address is james.porter@fastpensions.co.uk and Fast Pensions have just changed their postal address from PO Box 4385 08121954: Companies House Default Address Cardiff CF14 8LH to Crown House 27 Old Gloucester Street London WC1N 3AX on 18 May 2017.  This is a virtual office with thousands of companies registered there and nowhere near where Porter appears to be based in Manchester or where Moat is based in Javea, Alicante, Spain.  There is nothing wrong with using a virtual address – I use a UK one myself as I am resident in Spain. But then I don’t run a pension scheme and the members suspect – perfectly understandably – there has been a deliberate attempt to make it difficult to contact anyone at Fast Pensions.
    When we spoke a week or so ago, Porter – a very personable gentleman – assured me he was dealing with everything assiduously and that there would soon be a contact number and address so that worried members could contact the company.  He told me there were about 400 members in total and he reassured me that the assets of the schemes were unregulated long-term loans held within bonds.  What I relief!  He said he would be sending out a newsletter to update all those who are so anxious to know whether their pensions are safe and are desperate for news as to when they can transfer out.  Unsurprisingly, nobody has any confidence in the custodianship of their pensions.
    There are a few worrying things about Fast Pensions – apart from the various Ombudsman’s determinations, the numerous worried members and reports of liberation and tax demands – and that is that Sara Moat resigned as a director on 17.3.17 and then a Sara Grace Moat (with the same date of birth) was appointed as a director on 6.4.17. Sara, or Sara Grace, is also director of Fast Enrolment of Gilbert Wakefield House Bewsey Street Warrington WA2 7JQ.

    Would you buy a second-hand house from the Moats?

    Peter Daniel Moat and Sara Grace Moat have been involved in a string of businesses called Blu somethingsomething… Blu Debt, Blu Property, Blu Property Group, Blu Financial Services of Cinnamon House, Cinnamon Park, Crab Lane, Fearnhead, Warrington WA2 0XP etc.  As director of Blu Debt, Peter Moat introduced one victim to Stephen Ward’s Ark pension scam – and charged him £500 for “advice”.

    The Moats also have a business in Javea called DEYSE INVESTMENTS SL  plus Blu Holding Group, Desinplot, Desysins, Deysecomunic, Deyserents, El Arenal de Deyse, Property Exchange.  I feel exhausted just thinking about running so many businesses and think I can understand why Fast Pensions has not received the attention it deserves when the Moats have so many other ventures – all based in Javea, Spain.  The address for some of these businesses is Avenida la Llibertat 31, Javea 03730, Alicante.  But who knows – it could equally be somewhere in Moraira at Stephen Ward’s office, or at LettersRUs next to Barclays Bank.
    I have asked James Porter who the trustees are and for a complete schedule of the scheme assets.  Many of the members suspect that Mr. Porter is actually Peter Moat.  If this is true, then it is hard to understand why he would hide behind his pregnant wife.  When their baby is born – and I do of course wish them well – I hope they will be more decisive about names than Sara Moat is with her directorships on Companies House.
    Meanwhile, there are 400 people worried sick about their pensions.  And I am concerned that the track record which is in the public domain in both the UK and Spain does not inspire confidence – neither does the Moats’ inability to spell the word “blue”.  Further, the fact that the underlying assets of the scheme are unregulated loans and that the trustees are an unknown entity.
    Nice as James Porter was when we spoke by phone, and sincere/reassuring as he sounded, I am afraid this has undeniably got all the hallmarks of a typical, bog standard scam.  It looks, sounds, feels, smells like a scam.  The victims are not stupid.  Neither is the Pensions Ombudsman.  The jury is out on the Pensions Regulator.  I still wish and hope that it is not a scam and that the victims will be able to safely transfer out their pensions and receive their awarded compensation without further delay.