Tag: Tom Biggar

Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund

Pension Life and Forsters LLP have issued proceedings in respect of the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund.

Pension Life has issued legal proceedings in the matter of the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund which is being wound up by Doran + Minehane

Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund

This Cayman Islands-based fund is being liquidated and it is uncertain whether there will be any recovery for the victims whose pensions were invested in it.

Nearly 250 STM Fidecs QROPS members stand to lose £25 million.

Given the uncertainty of recovery by the liquidator, we felt it was essential to issue proceedings so that the victims’ interests would be protected.

STM Fidecs – a QROPS provider in Gibraltar – has issued the following update to the Trafalgar Multi Asset victims:

“Following an investigation into the status of the Fund’s investments, the Company’s directors determined that it would be in the best interests of the Shareholders to wind down the Fund and to focus on the recovery of assets and the distribution of such assets to those entitled to have recourse.”

STM Fidecs appointed Stephen Doran of Doran + Minehane as liquidator.

The update issued by STM Fidecs has given victims very limited information relating to the current status of the liquidation of the fund or the prospects of recovery. However, it has made it clear that there was “misappropriation of funds” and that there were investigations ongoing.

STM Fidecs has stated that it has recently commenced litigation against “various parties” and a claim has been issued against thirteen defendants in respect of misappropriated monies.

Whether the guilty parties will be brought to justice, or whether there will be any money left over for the victims after the the liquidator has been paid in full, remains to be seen.

It is well known that the Trafalgar Multi Asset scam has been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. This was announced by the SFO on 22 May 2017. Other schemes promoted by the same team of scammers included the Capita Oak and Henley pension scams which were promoted by Sycamore Crown Ltd, Jackson Francis Ltd, Portia Financial and Nunn McCreesh.

It is also known that the same scammers who were promoting Capita Oak, Henley and Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund were also promoting the Blackmore Global Fund run by Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh. Nunn and McCreesh’s Blackmore Bond is currently in the hands of administrators Duff and Phelps.

Victims of all of these scams are still invited to contact the Serious Fraud Office if they have any evidence they wish to provide in order to help bring the fraudsters to justice: hazel@sfo.gov.uk

Forsters – the firm which Pension Life is working with – have liaised with the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund investor committee (which currently includes a doctor and a police officer). Forsters and Pension Life are working towards bringing about the best possible outcome for the victims.

There may be serious doubts over whether the liquidation by Doran + Minehane will result in any meaningful returns for the victims. However, this litigation will give them a decent chance to get a large proportion of their pensions back.

Forsters LLP is a leading law firm with an exceptional track record of successful dispute resolution. It is not a no-win-no-fee firm, and it has no connection with any claims management companies.

May 22, 2020
Store First v Insolvency Service Battle
April 2019 sees the battle between Store First and the Insolvency Service. On April 15th, the High Court proceedings will kick off. As a result, the Store First v Insolvency Service will determine how many people will lose their pensions permanently. Two sets of very expensive lawyers – DWF and Eversheds Sutherland – will battle it out to see if Store First can continue trading. In the end, if the Insolvency Service wins the war, then both law firms and an insolvency practitioner will get rich.

You can read the Insolvency Service’s witness statement here.

As a result of the Insolvency Service winning, 1,200 pension scam victims will probably lose the majority of their investments in Store First. In most insolvencies, there is little left after the various snouts in the insolvency trough have had their fill. Investors will be lucky to get 10p in the pound. If there’s an “R” in the month. And if it is snowing. And if Brexit has a “happy ever after” ending.

The Insolvency Service says it is “in the public interest” to wind up Store First. But are they right? Isn’t winding up the company going to do even more unnecessary damage?

One very important issue is that the Insolvency Service’s witness statement dated 27.5.2015 (by Leonard Fenton) is so full of inaccuracies, misunderstandings, incomplete facts and an obvious failure to understand how the scam worked – as to be utterly laughable. The Insolvency Service and the High Court will rely heavily on this witness statement – and yet it has so many holes and errors that it is misleading, incomplete and meaningless. I asked the Insolvency Service questions about the incorrect and incomplete statements and made numerous comments on the failings contained within the statement. But the Insolvency Service did not even have the courtesy to reply or even acknowledge my contribution. In my view, this is arrogance and incompetence in the extreme.

This impending legal battle (which will cost the taxpayer £millions) is riddled with many more questions than answers. Here are a couple of my questions:

QUESTIONS RE STORE FIRST V INSOLVENCY SERVICE BATTLE
- Why did HMRC and tPR register Capita Oak and Henley Retirement Benefits Scheme as pension schemes in the first place?
- How many of the many scammers behind Capita Oak and Henley have been prosecuted?
- Is there an explanation as to why Berkeley Burke and Carey Pensions are still trading?
The reason for my questions is that both HMRC and tPR were negligent in registering the two occupational pension schemes. This was because the schemes were obvious scams from the outset. They both had non-existent sponsoring employers which had never traded or employed anybody. And they weren’t even in the UK.

HMRC was blind, stupid and lazy at the start – when these two schemes were registered by known scammers. But several years later, HMRC woke up pretty smartly and sent out tax demands for the “loans” the victims received. The Store First v Insolvency Service Battle is probably doomed to ignore HMRC’s negligence in causing this disaster in the first place.

James Hay and Suffolk Life had been facilitating the Elysian Fuels investment scam at around the same time. And this was with the considerable “help” of serial scammer Stephen Ward. So, this was a prime time for scams and scammers. However, both HMRC and tPR failed the public back then and have continued to do so ever since.

In 2015, the Insolvency Service identified and interviewed most of the scammers behind the Store First pension scam. In their witness statement dated 27th May 2015, Insolvency Service Investigator Leonard Fenton cited statements and evidence from all the key players.

KEY PLAYERS IN THE STORE FIRST PENSION SCAM:
1. Ben Fox
2. Stuart Chapman-Clarke
3. Michael Talbot
4. Sarah Duffell
5. Bill Perkins
6. XXXX XXXX
7. Alan Fowler
8. Jason Holmes
9. Karl Dunlop
10. Christopher Payne
11. Keith Ryder
12. Craig Mason
13. Patrick McCreesh (of Nunn McCreesh – along with Phillip Nunn)
14. Tom Biggar
15. Paul Cooper (Metis Law Solicitors)
That is fifteen scammers who have never been prosecuted. They have not only never been brought to justice, but many of them went on to operate further scams and ruin thousands more lives – destroying more £ millions of hard-earned pension funds.

And what of Toby Whittaker’s Store First? There is no question that store pods are not suitable investments for pension fund investments. Car parking spaces are unsuitable for pensions as well. There are, in fact, a long list of inappropriate investments for pensions – including anything high-risk, illiquid and expensive or commission-laden.

TYPICAL INVESTMENTS USED BY SCAMMERS:
- Risky, unregulated funds and bonds such as Blackmore Bond, Blackmore Global, London Capital & Finance, Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund, LM, Axiom, Premier etc.
- Structured notes – especially those provided by Nomura, Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada and Leonteq
- Loan note arrangements such as Dolphin Trust – which has just changed its name to German Property Group GmbH
- All start-up enterprises
- Wine, art, stamps, chia seeds, truffle trees, eucalyptus plantations, art, antiques etc
All the above are routinely used and abused by pension scammers as “investments” for some dodgy scheme. Invariably, the above investments come with pension liberation fraud and/or huge introduction commissions and hidden charges. However, it is rarely the fault of the artist, wine maker, start-up entrepreneur, truffle farmer or property developer that the scammers profit so handsomely from abusing their products.

Store First v Insolvency Service Battle

I hope Store First defeats the Insolvency Service in the forthcoming battle in the High Court this month. And I hope that the public and British government will finally get to see what embarrassingly inept, corrupt, lazy regulators and government agencies we have. I will publish the Insolvency Service’s witness statement separately for anyone who wants to read the Full Monty.

Let us not forget that the solicitors acting for the Insolvency Service – DWF LLP – also act for serial scammer Stephen Ward. It was Ward who was responsible for the pension transfers which subsequently invested in Store First. Had it not been for him, 1,200 victims’ pensions totaling £120 million wouldn’t now be at risk. But, somehow, DWF LLP doesn’t think that is a conflict of interest?!?

Let us be clear: if the Insolvency Service wins the court case, the investors will get nothing. This will mean that, yet again, the victims will get punished. If Store First wins, the investors will get at the very least half their money back. If they are patient, they may even get it all back.
April 4, 2019
Unqualified pension scammers banned

Unqualified Pension Scammers Banned

Articles like New Model Adviser’s report on some of the scammers behind the Capita Oak/Henley/Store First scam getting banned always makes me smile. Knowing that a few pension scammers (four in this case), are being named and shamed – as well as banned from being directors – motivates me to share information about these evil scams with the public.

Directors handed 34-year ban for £57m cold call pension transfers

Citywire stated:

“An investigation led by the Insolvency Service revealed the directors were connected with Transeuro Worldwide Holdings, which helped fund two introducer firms Sycamore Crown and Jackson Francis. The firms were involved in the transfer of £57 million of pension savings.

Sycamore Crown director Stuart Greehan agreed to a nine-year voluntary ban as a result of false and misleading statements to encourage investors to transfer their pensions.

Karl Dunlop, director of Imperial Trustee Services, and Ian Dunsford, director of Omni Trustees, agreed to bans of nine and seven years, respectively, for failing to act in the best interests of members and ‘failing to ensure investments were adequately diverse’.

While not a formally appointed director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings, Mike Talbot (AKA Stephen Talbot) accepted a nine-year disqualification undertaking for failing to disclose what happened to the millions of pounds of pension assets.”

BUT, IN ADDITION TO THESE EVIL SCAMMERS, THERE WERE OTHER PLAYERS IN THIS APPALLING TRAGEDY AND THEY WERE NOT MENTIONED. SO HERE ARE THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO PLAYED LEADING PARTS IN THIS FOUL PLAY:

Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions SL and Premier Pension Transfers Ltd – he handled the transfer administration from the original (ceding) pension providers. He was, apparently, paid £300 per Capita Oak transfer – and would have known that he was condemning each member to certain loss of his or her pension.

XXXX XXXX of Nationwide Benefit Consultants, The Pension Reporter, Victory Asset Management and Tourbillon, was clearly the “controlling mind” behind Capita Oak. He also ran the Thurlstone loan scheme which paid 5% in cash to the Capita Oak victims as a “bonus” or “thank you”. HMRC is now taxing these payments at 55% as they qualify as unauthorised payments. XXXX XXXX then went on to launch the successful Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund scam which saw over 400 victims lose their pensions to high-risk toxic loans to Dolphin Trust in an STM Fidecs Gibraltar QROPS. XXXX – as with most pension scammers – subsequently ignores the plight of the victims when the schemes eventually and inevitably collapse. XXXX is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and was also responsible for the Westminster pension scam.

Mark Manley of Manleys Solicitors – acting for XXXX XXXX.

Stuart Chapman-Clarke, Christopher Payne, Ben Fox, Bill Perkins, Alan Fowler, Karen Burton, Tom Biggar, Sarah Duffell, Jason Holmes, Metis Law Solicitors, Roger Chant, Brian Downs, Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh all played further prominent roles in this series of scams and profited to a greater or lesser degree.

It is believed that cold calling techniques were used to lure unsuspecting victims into this series of unregulated investment scams. Victims’ pension savings were transferred into bogus occupational pension schemes whose trustees/administrators were Omni Trustees and Imperial Trustee Services. The schemes were Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme (HRBS) and Capita Oak Pension Scheme (COPS). But the scammers also used a variety of SIPPS which included Berkeley Burke, Careys Pensions, Rowanmoor, London and Colonial and Stadia Trustees.

As is often the case in scams like these, the victims were lured in with promises of so-called guaranteed high returns by spivs masquerading as advisers, who were also unqualified and unregulated to give financial advice.

The unqualified advisers were able to transfer millions of pounds’ worth of pension savings into these schemes which included investments in unregulated storage units and over £10 million into COPS (Capita Oak) and over £8 million into HRBS (Henley). The promised high returns were never paid to the investors – but handed over to the scammers instead. The pension funds are now suspended with the funds trapped in these illiquid investments.

The company directors have received a total ban of 34 years collectively. Here at Pension Life we would have liked to have seen lifetime bans all round.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is now moving forward with their investigations against Omni and Imperial. They urge people who are members of HRBS (Henley) and COPS (Capita Oak) to contribute to criminal evidence against the scammers via a questionnaire.

As always, the team at Pension Life urges pension holders to be wary of pension scammers. Never accept a cold call offer, be aware that scammers lurk everywhere and if it seems to good to be true it probably is!

If in doubt just walk away!

October 10, 2018
Trustees Must Block Transfers to Pension Scams
Trustees have the power to block pension transfers if they suspect a scam – they must use it! Now the Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against the Police trustee, there is hope for further justice against negligent pension trustees.

In the Royal London v Hughes case, Royal London suspected an attempted transfer was destined to go into a scam and blocked it. The member, Ms Hughes, complained to the Pensions Ombudsman – but he did not uphold her complaint. He said that Royal London was quite right to block the transfer. But Ms Hughes appealed the matter to the High Court and the judge overturned the Ombudsman’s determination.

The industry was, naturally, appalled. But this matter left many questions unanswered:
- Why was a singing teacher so desperate to transfer her £8,000 pension and have it invested in Cape Verde property? (Had she developed a passion for collapsible flats?)
- Where did she get the many thousands of pounds it must have cost her to have a barrister represent her in the High Court? (Considerably more than eight thousand quid I reckon).
- How come the mighty Fenner Moeran QC (for Royal London) got so soundly defeated by a public access barrister? (Was his sharp stick a bit blunt that day?)
- What happened to the several hundred people queuing up behind Ms Hughes to have their pensions invested in Cape Verde flats? (“Flat” being the operative word).
I could ask loads more pertinent and searching questions – like why did Ms Hughes’ public access barrister, Frances Ratcliffe of Radcliffe Chambers, think it was a good use of her considerable skills to defend an obvious pension scam? How drunk was the judge on the day? How many more people got scammed out of their pensions because of this abomination – and proof the law is not just an ass but a whole donkey farm?

Anyway, enough already. The damage was done in the Royal London v Hughes case. And now, hopefully, the door to justice has been opened in the Police Authority v Mr N case – as eloquently reported by Henry Tapper in his blog on 2.8.18. But there is a great deal more work to be done on this now: the scammers who organised and promoted the London Quantum scam need to be prosecuted and jailed; and the FCA-regulated firm – Gerard Associates – which gave the advice to the police officer (Mr N) needs to be sanctioned by the FCA. Gerard Associates – run by Stephen Ward’s associate Gary Barlow – also needs to refund the £5k they charged Mr N – and indeed all of the £220k they charged the 98 London Quantum victims.

Now is the time to bring to justice not only the pension scammers, but also the negligent ceding pension trustees who allowed the scammers to succeed – and facilitated financial crime.

At the time Mr N was scammed by Stephen Ward; Viva Costa International (the “introducers”); and FCA-regulated advisers Gerard Associates, the Pensions Regulator’s “Scorpion” campaign was in full flow. But it was unbelievably inept. It only really talked about liberation and ignored the many other kinds of fraud being perpetrated at the time – i.e. investment fraud.

The London Quantum pension scam came hard on the heels of the Capita Oak and Henley scams – which straddled the Scorpion watershed of February 2013. The transfer administration for Capita Oak was done by Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions (Spain) and Premier Pension Transfers (Worsley, Manchester). Ward knew from first-hand experience how ceding trustees were starting – albeit agonisingly slowly and gradually – to resist transfer requests.

Here is evidence of the first tentative – and very inconsistent – moves to do some long-overdue diligence on pension transfer requests – as reported by Stephen Ward’s team of transfer administration scammers:

24.4.2013 – ReAssure Pensions – “The scheme now want the client’s application and new-dated screenshot emailed to Alan (Fowler – Ward’s pension lawyer chum) – on hold at Tom’s (Biggar – XXXX XXXX’s mate) request”.

11.4.2013 – Prudential – “Transfer canceled as per XXXX (XXXX XXXX’s wife)”

26.4.2013 – Zurich – “Unwilling to process – not sure why – need to cancel”

11.7.2013 – Zurich – “On hold as there may be an issue with Scorpion”

26.4.2013 – Friends Life – “Awaiting trust scheme rules – with Anthony (Salih – Ward’s mate) – need to cancel”

30.5.2013 – Aviva, NHS, Co-op, Friends Life – “Schemes are refusing to transfer”

11.6.2013 – Scottish Life – “Scheme contacting client – believed not transferring”

However, during this same period, there were plenty of transfers being made in defiance or ignorance of Scorpion. These included ceding schemes NHS (£43k), Scottish Widows (£25k), LGPS Newham (£47k), Aviva (£54k), Xerox £92k, Zurich (£21k), Prudential (£25k) and Standard Life (£53k).

But the most worrying was the Firefighters Pension Scheme: £69K after the following notes were made:

“Advised that the trustees committee are meeting to discuss cases and we are awaiting a call back next week. Transfer sent today 2.7.13 and paid on 16.8.13. Statement sent to XXXX and Tom (Biggar)”.

So the Firefighters were no better than the Police Authority in terms of ignoring the Scorpion warning.

And here is what the Scorpion warning was saying from 2013 onwards – and, indeed, was still saying in 2016 when the last couple of hundred Continental Wealth Management victims were in the process of being scammed:

Predators Stalk Your Pension

Companies are singling out savers like you and claiming that they can help you cash in your pension early. If you agree to this you could face a tax bill of more than half your pension savings.

Don’t let your pension become prey.

Pension loans or cash incentives are being used alongside misleading information to entice savers as the number of pension scams increases. This activity is known as ‘pension liberation fraud’ and it’s on the increase in the UK.

In rare cases – such as terminal illness – it is possible to access funds before age 55 from your current pension scheme. But for the majority, promises of early cash will be bogus and are likely to result in serious tax consequences.

What to watch out for?
1. Being approached out of the blue, over the phone or via text message
2. Pushy advisers or ‘introducers’ who offer upfront cash incentives
3. Companies that offer a ‘loan’, ‘savings advance’ or cash back’ from your pension
4. Not being informed about the potential tax consequences
Five steps to avoid becoming a victim
1. Never give out financial or personal information to a cold caller
2. Find out about the company’s background through information online. Any financial advisers should be registered with the FCA
3. Ask for a statement showing how your pension will be paid at retirement and question who will look after your money until then
4. Speak to an adviser that is not associated with the proposal you’ve received, for unbiased advice
5. Never be rushed into agreeing to a pension transfer
If you think you may have been made an offer, contact Action Fraud.

But, the Scorpion warning failed tragically in so many different ways:
- The warning only talked about liberation. Many victims thought this warning didn’t apply to them as they had no intention of liberating their pension fund
- No information was given on how to find out about a company’s background – and how to establish whether it was regulated
- The warning talked about advisers being FCA regulated – but ignored the question of offshore advisers who obviously wouldn’t be FCA regulated
- The public was advised to contact Action Fraud – but did not disclose that Action Fraud would do absolutely nothing
In 2015, we went to see the Pensions Regulator to talk about the failings of the Scorpion campaign – as well as the failings of the Regulator. Two Ark victims and I met the then Executive Director for Regulatory Policy – Tinky Winky. Our intention was to explain to him how the Scorpion campaign had failed and how it needed to be made more robust and comprehensive.

Tinky Winky, flanked by two lawyers and a paralegal, told us to “hop it” – and warned us that if we tried to interfere with the authority of the powers of the regulator, our arse would be grass and he’d be a lawnmower. A year later the Scorpion warning had still not been updated or improved and hundreds more victims lost their life savings.

The Pensions Ombudsman is, naturally, the hero of the hour in the Mr N v Police Authority case. And hopefully, he will find for the rest of the victims if they all now bring complaints against their negligent ceding trustees in the London Quantum case. But we must remember that, contrary to what the Ombudsman’s service has said for the past few years, the industry did know about pension scams long before the Scorpion Campaign in February 2013.

In fact, a clear warning had been given in 2010. The Pensions Regulator had been fully aware that since 1999 pension scams were on the increase, and yet did not make it clear to ceding pension trustees what their statutory obligations were in respect of transferring victims into scams. On 13.7.2010, tPR Chair David Norgrove stated that: “Any administrator who simply ticks a box and allows the transfer, post July 2010, is failing in their duty as a trustee and as such are liable to compensate the beneficiary.”

But pension trustees claim they never read that message (let alone heeded it) and that it was neither publicised nor distributed. Further, in the same year Tony King, the Pensions Ombudsman, reported that he had “found that pension trustees failed in carrying out serious fiduciary responsibilities to others in circumstances in which the law specifically states that they should not be protected from liability.” And still tPR did nothing. And the Pension Schemes Act 1993 was not amended to reflect the urgent need to protect the public.

The Pensions Regulator’s predecessor – OPRA (Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority) had warned about the dangers of pension scams years before 2013 – as had HMRC. The last thing I want to do is criticise the Ombudsman – as this must be his hour of glory and we must all be hugely grateful to him. Especially Mr N and his fellow London Quantum victims. But we must remember that the industry in general, and pension trustees in particular, should have been alert to pension scams long before Scorpion.

Now is the time to bring to justice not only the pension scammers, but also the negligent ceding pension trustees who allowed the scammers to succeed – and facilitated financial crime.
August 7, 2018
SAIL FINANCIAL – ANOTHER SCAM?

Plain sailing in the world of pension scams

SAIL FINANCIAL AND TRAFALGAR MULTI ASSET FUND: What is the connection?

Who is behind Sail Financial? And what is the connection to Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund? We know Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund was originally run by XXXX XXXX as “Victory Asset Management” and that XXXX had also been behind the Capita Oak, Henley Retirement Benefits Scheme and Westminster pension scams: wound up by the Insolvency Service; now in the hands of Dalriada Trustees and under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

We also know that the £120 million of store pods purchased for Capita Oak, Henley RBS and hundreds of SIPPS are now probably worthless and Store First is subject to a winding up petition due to be heard on 1st August in Manchester.

In addition to being the Investment Manager of the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund, XXXX was also the “financial adviser” in the form of his firms Global Partners Limited and The Pension Reporter – a “trading style” of XXXX’s Nationwide Benefit Consultants. But none of these firms were licensed for pension or investment advice.

In fact, Nationwide Benefit Consultants were an appointed representative of Joseph Oliver – Mediacao de Seguros LDA, a firm registered with the FCA. Joseph Oliver is a UK branch of a Portuguese firm and has permission for insurance mediation under both the FCA regulations and those of the Portuguese insurance regulator.

However, Joseph Oliver’s Marcus Groombridge has stated:

“I can confirm that XXXX XXXX and Nationwide Benefit Consultants Ltd were appointed on the 29th of May 2014 and terminated on the 8th of April 2016. The permission for insurance mediation covers pension advice.”

Phew! What a relief. I am now looking forward to Mr Groombridge’s full cooperation with putting XXXX XXXX’s victims back into the position they should have been in had they not been scammed into investing their pensions in the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund in the first place. I will also probably remind Mr Groombridge that the Trafalgar matter is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office – along with other pension scams “distributed” by XXXX XXXX in 2012/13.

If there hadn’t already been enough misery for the hundreds of victims of the Capita Oak and Henley Retirement Benefit schemes run back in 2012/13 – XXXX had also been operating pension liberation in the form of “loans” from his company Thurlstone, based in the Seychelles. The victims have now been sent tax demands. But XXXX and his solicitor, Mark Manley of Manleys Law, have ignored pleas to indemnify the victims from these crippling tax liabilities.

I have often wondered what people like XXXX do after their latest scheme collapses or implodes. History tells us that they simply get straight on with their next one – and in fact had probably started it already. XXXX has been a director of seven companies (according to Companies House):

Nationwide Benefit Consultants (active)

Nationwide Corporate Benefits (active)

Proactive Administration Solutions (active)

Nationwide Trustee Services (dissolved)

Ashton Abbott (dissolved)

Nationwide Tax Administration (dissolved)

Admin Protection (dissolved)

XXXX has resigned from Nationwide Benefit Consultants and Nationwide Corporate Benefits – and appointed someone called Raymond Hampton as a director. But XXXX remains a director of Proactive Administration Solutions. So perhaps that is one to watch.

XXXX’s background is in the “distribution of pension schemes” (his words). He has worked closely with the cold-calling and lead generation firms (such as Jackson Francis, Sanderson Clarke and Barncroft Associates run by XXXX´s mates Ben Fox and Stuart Chapman-Clarke) who were involved in the Capita Oak and Henley scams.

So what is XXXX doing now? Perhaps whatever project he is working on involves trying to make enough money to compensate the victims of Capita Oak, Henley, Westminster and the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund – all of the schemes are now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. It is also probable that Gibraltar Trustees STM Fidecs no longer want terms of business with XXXX XXXX now that so many of his schemes are subject to criminal investigations. STM Fidecs also probably now realises it was a serious conflict of interest taking business from an adviser who was also the Investment Manager to the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund – which is now in the process of being wound up.

While I was idly puzzling over what XXXX´s next scheme might be, I started hearing reports about a firm called Sail Financial doing the rounds of firms in Europe – touting offering to do “introducing” and cold calling. Looking at the Sail Financial website, it is impossible to see who is involved in the business – no names, no address, no regulation. According to the Companies House register, Sail Financial – incorporated on 8.5.2015 – has two directors: Robert Hathaway and Brian Westhead. Neither of those names rang any bells with me.

Hathaway has no other directorships listed. However, Westhead does: he is listed as a director of a dissolved company called BIGB22 (08559856). This company’s previous names were Portia Financial and The Pension Reporter: XXXX XXXX’s firms. These firms have a history of being involved in pension and investment scams, cold calling and unregulated financial advice. The victims of the Trafalgar Multi Asset/STM Fidecs pension and investment scam were introduced and “advised” by Portia Financial, GPL (Global Partners Ltd) and The Pension Reporter, with advice letters signed by XXXX XXXX and Tom Biggar.

So clearly there is a connection between Sail Financial and various firms and schemes run by XXXX XXXX – including Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund. Perhaps XXXX XXXX is sailing round the Mediterranean now? I just hope he doesn’t have one glass of champagne too many and fall overboard.

July 13, 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
CAPITA OAK – THE GINGER SCAMMER

In the Capita Oak pension scam, the “Ginger Scammer” – XXXX XXXX – is reported to have earned over £200k in transfer/administration fees alone. It is not known how much he earned in investment introduction commissions.

The Ginger Scammer can afford to stump up some cash for the benefit of the victims of the Capita Oak and Henley Retirement Benefit Scams. Over a thousand victims are facing the partial or total loss of their pensions and are also now being pursued by HMRC for tax liabilities on the Thurlstone liberation “loans” operated by XXXX XXXX

Here is the email sent to the lawyers acting for XXXX:

Dear Dick

I am setting out below the redacted tax appeal in respect of “Mr. X”. He had the largest transfer in Capita Oak – and by definition the largest Thurlstone loan (operated by XXXX XXXX and Tom Biggar) and resulting tax demand.

Mr. X’s case was the subject of a Pensions Ombudsman’s determination where Capita Oak was clearly stated to be a scam. Undoubtedly the Ginger Scammer is familiar with the Ombudsman’s determination: https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/PO-3590.pdf

Further, I am sure you have seen the FCA sanction against IFA Popplewell:

http://www.international-adviser.com/news/1035260/uk-ifa-banned-advising-clients-invest-gbp12m-storepods?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=UK%20IFA%20banned%20over%20advice%20to%20invest%20%C2%A312m%20in%20Storepods&utm_campaign=international_adviser_newsletter_10_04_2017

£128 million worth of pensions investments is an awfully big number and I am sure that after all the money your client earned out of these scams, he can come up with sufficient funds to place in a secure account for the benefit of the victims who are now being pursued by HMRC for tax on the Thurlstone “loans”. Although it is a matter of public record that XXXX earned well in excess of £200k in transfer fees in Capita Oak alone, it is inevitable that he will also have received some introduction commissions.

The Thurlstone loans were operated by XXXX XXXX and therefore he must take responsibility for the tax liabilities on behalf of the victims.  Can you please both get back to me by return. Ignoring this situation and turning your back on the Capita Oak victims is not an option.

Regards, Angie

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-



HMRC Specialist Personal Pension Schemes Services – Attn Lynn Faulkner                                            11 April 2017

Fitz Roy House

Castle Meadow Road

Nottingham NG2 1BD,

United Kingdom

Dear Ms Faulkner

Ref: Mr. X: UTR: 9227156060 – Amount of Assessment: £31,473.89

Please accept this as the appeal and request for postponement of the tax sought by HMRC on behalf of the above-named taxpayer in respect of the protected assessment issued. The grounds are as follows:

1.       Capita Oak was registered by HMRC on 23.7.2012 (PSTR 00785484RM) by Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Transfers of 31 Memorial Road, Worsley and Premier Pension Solutions of Moraira, Spain.

2.       Capita Oak was also registered by the Pensions Regulator (PSR12006487) who had placed Ward’s Ark schemes in the hands of Dalriada Trustees – yet allowed him to register a further scheme with no regard to the risk that it might be a scam (as indeed it was).

4.       This taxpayer – along with 300 other victims – was given the Thurlstone loan on the basis it was definitely not taxable by an individual who purported to be a financial adviser. Had the victim known this would be treated as an unauthorised payment, he would not have gone ahead with the transfer.

5.       The Thurlstone loans were processed by two CII members practising as financial and tax advisors. They would have known there was a risk the loans would constitute unauthorised payments and result in tax assessments by HMRC.

6.       Once the transfer request had been signed by the victim, there was nothing further he could have done to influence any further transactions since these would have been outside of his control. The trustees, Imperial, and the Thurlstone loan company were by now in total control of the transfer, investment and loan. The victim had zero input or influence over what happened subsequent to the transfer being executed by the negligent ceding providers.

7.       There appears to be no evidence whatsoever that Capita Oak was set up for the purpose of providing an income in retirement for the members. It must be questioned, therefore, whether it even constituted a pension scheme at all – save for the valid HMRC and tPR registration numbers. As supported by the Insolvency Service’s witness statement, the following are compelling reasons why this was a bogus pension scheme from start to finish:

·         The trust deed was forged

·         The sponsoring employer – R. P. Medplant Ltd was stated to be in Cyprus

·         The sponsoring employer – R. P. Medplant Ltd did not exist – although there was a company registered in Cyprus called R. P. Med Plant Ltd (which was also used for the subsequent Westminster scam).

·         The scheme was set up purely as the “super fund” of a bunch of known, serial scammers, to earn investment introduction commissions of 46% out of Store First’s store pods

·         The scheme’s own bank – Barclays – didn’t know it was a pension scheme – and when Barclays eventually realised this, they blocked the account

·         No arrangements were ever made to communicate with the members. Once the various scammers in their respective roles had earned their fees and commissions, they all simply walked away and abandoned the scheme and the members

·         The transfer administration was carried out by Stephen Ward, Level 6 qualified CII and author of the Tolleys Pensions Taxation Manual. After the disasters of both Ark and Evergreen, Ward would have known he was condemning all the victims – whether transferring from personal or occupational pensions – to certain financial ruin and potential unauthorised payment charges

·         The unauthorised payment charges arose from the Thurlstone loans and the tax should, therefore, be sought direct from the extremely wealthy scammers – not from the victims of the large-scale Capita Oak scam.

Angela Brooks – Chairman, Pension Life Group Action

April 11, 2017
THE ROT OF GIBRALTAR’S “GOLDEN SA-TURD-AY AWARD”

What a wag that Michael Howard was on Saturday. But his timing is brilliant as we do have one little “mess” which needs sorting out urgently, and a bit of a hole – about the size of Howard’s mouth – in regulation and financial crime prevention in Gibraltar: the STM Fidecs/Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fund pension scam.

Known for many years as a haven for crooks, tax evaders, swindlers, fraudsters, money launderers, drug traffickers and assorted rascally turds, Gibraltar is also home to STM Fidecs. Allegedly a pension “trustee” firm. So, this blog is addressed directly and unashamedly to STM Fidec’s Alan Kentish and David Easton.

“Alan and David, the word “trustee” has got the “trust” bit in it for a reason. Members are supposed to be able to trust a pension trustee to ensure that investors are not advised by a two-bit, unregulated, serial scammer. And further, that they are not advised by a two-bit, unregulated, serial scammer who is also the investment manager of the very UCIS scam he is promoting to UK residents who should never have been put in a QROPS in the first place. And further still, that the investors’ pensions are not 100% invested in that high-risk, toxic rubbish which is illegal to be promoted to UK residents.

Talking of words, I was curious as to what “Fidecs” actually means and when I Googled it, I got “fighting infectious diseases in emerging countries”. Well, that’s about right if you ask me. And who asked me? Victims of the Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fraud (£21 million suspended and arguably worthless). And a dying elderly man to whom you caused immense anguish by refusing to release a portion of his pension so he could have life-saving cancer treatment – and whom you gagged when eventually you did relent (although he had told me all about before you gagged him).

And talking of gagging, what about the woman you gagged because she worked for you and objected strongly to the amount of business you were signing off which was non-compliant and would put investors at risk? She happened to know what she was talking about because she had been a victim of the scammers at Holborn Assets in Dubai who came close to losing her all of her pension – so she knew her stuff. So you gagged her too – but not before she had told me every detail – as she is a member of the Pension Life Group Action.

So, Al and Dave, I am sure it goes without saying that you won’t be gagging me, and a detailed report is being prepared for Messrs. Coles, Crossman, Tricker, Ashton, Barrass and Garner. It would be nice if you came forward, admitted your negligence like men and put your professional indemnity insurers on notice without squirming and slithering around.

Let’s see if you are men; whether you can put the “trust” back in “trustee”, take the turd out of Saturday and kick the rot out of Gibraltar. Then Lord Howard can take his foot out of his mouth and Gib might have a chance of rescuing its tarnished imagine as the harbourer of financial crime.”

April 2, 2017
STM’s Trafalgar Wind Up?

STM Trafalgar Pension Scam

Seriously–is this yet another wind up? STM want to be voted as “National Public Champion”?

All of STM’s allegedly world-leading people will have known that it was illegal to promote a UCIS to retail UK residents. Unless STM’s claims about their excellent pensions team are just a wind up?

After International Investor’s expose of the wind up of the failed £21 millionTrafalgar Multi-Asset fund:

http://www.internationalinvestment.net/products/suspended-trafalgar-multi-asset-fund-wound/

not many of the hundreds of victims who may stand to lose part or all of their pensions will be voting for STM. International Investment’s Helen Burggraf reported that the Trafalgar fund’s investors were advised of the wind up on 13th January 2017 by Richard Reinert of the Nascent Fund (an umbrella fund containing the Trafalgar fund).

STM, who failed to provide details about how the wind-up is likely to work, have apparently whined that they had been “unfairly singled out” as a well-known trustee because they had kept their victims “informed about the fund’s problems”

STM, whose stake in Trafalgar accounted for 75% of the total fund value, failed to answer urgent questions about their role in the victims’ impending losses in the fund which, according to International Investment was “managed by Victory Asset Management, run by two of the people involved in the Capita Oak pension scam.”

.

STM claim to have over 50 “dedicated and highly-skilled” people in their pensions team and that their level of expertise has made them world leaders in the field of QROPS. Perhaps one of these wonderful people can explain why hundreds of UK-domiciled investors were transferred into a Gibraltar QROPS on the advice of an unregulated adviser who was also the Trafalgar fund manager into which 100% of these pensions were invested.

STM will surely have no trouble providing an explanation as to why victims’ pensions were 100% invested into one UCIS which was 100% invested in loans to a German property developer.

All of STM’s allegedly world-leading people will have known that it was illegal to promote a UCIS to retail UK residents. Unless STM’s claims about their excellent pensions team are just a wind up?

February 1, 2017
STM FIDECS QROPS and Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Disaster (Suspended)

Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund – DISASTER.

“Gibraltar is a highly regulated and transparent jurisdiction, coupled with the benefits of a Gibraltar-based regulatory regime.” Well, we will see won’t we!!

STM is now writing to their distressed members who are invested in the suspended £20 million Trafalgar Multi-Asset fund. STM are stating:

“All members who invested into the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund were introduced by Global Partners Limited, Nationwide Benefit Consultants Limited, and/or The Pension Reporter. NBCL provided advice based on their appointed representative status granted by the Portuguese regulated firm – Joseph Oliver LDA. In April 2016 Joseph Oliver LDA revoked the permissions granted to NBCL. This resulted in the directors and employees of NBCL, no longer having permission to give financial advice.”

But – come on guys – there is no evidence that Global Partners or NBC or The Pension Reporter were ever regulated for pension or investment advice. Only insurance advice. So the fact that Joseph Oliver LDA dumped them is irrelevant. So why did STM accept any of these people at all?

All of these people were undoubtedly low-risk, low-net-worth, unsophisticated investors – but they were all put into a high-risk, illiquid Unregulated Collective Investment Scheme (which is illegal to be promoted to UK retail clients). So, where was STM’s due diligence?

And what did STM know about the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund? They obviously knew the investment manager was also the adviser (a clear conflict of interest). STM claims to be “a leading provider of international pensions with over 40 years’ experience providing bespoke planning for high-net-worth individuals in managing personal pension schemes.” So why accept members who are neither international nor high net worth?

STM goes on to claim they are “at the forefront of developing best practice in the administration and delivery of a QROPS. Our business model and processes are built around our clients to ensure we deliver only the highest standards of client care.” So STM has accepted hundreds of members who are UK resident and low risk into a QROPS 100% invested in one single UCIS and whose adviser is also the investment manager of the fund? I would hardly call this the “highest standards of client care” but rather the lowest standards of negligence.

So what are you ridiculously hopeless lot going to do about it? Call yourself pension trustees? I wouldn’t trust you with my used tea bags!

December 6, 2016