STM Fidecs needed a safe Harbour. And now they’ve got one – but is it really safe? LETTER TO ALAN KENTISH – CEO OF STM FIDECS: Dear Al, hope you are well. I’m not anticipating a response to this because I know how difficult it must be to type emails when you’re wearing handcuffs. However, […]
STM FIDECS – SAFE HARBOUR FOR ALAN KENTISH Read More »
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Protected: Shaw Gibbs – Accountants and Business Advisers Read More »
SCAMS AND SCANDALS SYMPOSIUM – PART OF THE TRANSPARENCY TASK FORCE: WEDNESDAY 15TH NOVEMBER AT THE OFFICES OF IG GROUP, 12.30 TO 5PM Pension and investment scams and scandals are a blight on financial services and saving for retirement. The energetic and inspired campaign by Darren Cooke of Red Circle successfully raised awareness of the
SCAMS AND SCANDALS SYMPOSIUM – TRANSPARENCY TASK FORCE 15.11.17 Read More »
STM Fidecs, the Gibraltar-based trustee firm used for the Trafalgar Multi Asset Scam, is now the subject of large numbers of complaints to the Gibraltar authorities. Hundreds of victims of XXXX XXXX’s unlicensed “advice” transferred safe UK pensions to a Gibraltar STM Fidecs QROPS and then he invested 100% of their funds into his own
STM Fidecs – Trafalgar Multi Asset Scam Read More »
Continental Wealth Management (CWM) was a financial advisory firm based on the Costa Blanca in Spain. Headed up by Darren Kirby, there were – until earlier in 2017 – 35 people working at the firm. The firm claimed to have £50 million worth of assets under management and around 500 clients. The firm closed down
CONTINENTAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT – PREMIER PENSION SOLUTIONS’ SISTER CO Read More »
Fenner Moeran QC, of Wilberforce Chambers, for Dalriada Trustees in the High Court Beddoe proceedings in June 2017, sought the court’s permission – using the term “sharp stick” in his pleadings – and directions to use the Ark victims’ funds to force them to repay their Ark MPVAs. Beddoe proceedings: arguably (apparently) Dalriada could have
FENNER MOERAN QC AND THE SHARP STICK (Ark debARKle) Read More »
BLACKMORE GLOBAL; NUNN McCREESH; SLATER & GORDON; PENSION SCAMS Blackmore Global is a UCIS (unregulated collective investment scheme) which is illegal to be promoted to retail, UK investors. The fund is run by Philip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh (formerly of Nunn McCreesh – the lead generation and cold calling firm which introduced around 8,000 victims to
BLACKMORE GLOBAL; NUNN McCREESH; SLATER & GORDON; PENSION SCAMS Read More »
Regulators and scammers; cops and robbers; cowboys and indians. Each has their role: cowboys fire their six shooters and dodge the injuns’ arrows valiantly; cops drive their police cars at breakneck speed to corner the robbers in a dark alley; regulators waggle their flaccid willies and watch the scammers walk all over them. In the
REGULATORS AND SCAMMERS Read More »
Bridgebank Capital’s Laurence Badman Goodman has made 37 Fast Pensions Scam loans disappear as if by magic – while he was on holiday and too busy to engage with Pension Life or the distraught victims of Peter and Sara Moat. Having discovered this was where some or all of the elusive Fast Pensions Scam funds
BRIDGEBANK CAPITAL FAST PENSION SCAM LOANS “SATISFIED” Read More »
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
BRIDGEBANK CAPITAL AND THE FAST PENSION SCAM Read More »
Investors are likely to have lost all their money in Premier New Earth Recycling fund – now in liquidation. The liquidator is Deloittes and they can’t say much, if anything, about what is happening as they are looking into the possibility of claims against third parties and don’t want to prejudice any possible action. Rather
PREMIER NEW EARTH RECYCLING FUND IN LIQUIDATION Read More »
FRIENDS LIFE – OR DEATH? WINDSOR PENSIONS QROPS SCAM (DANICA) Since 2010, dozens of ceding pension providers have recklessly and negligently allowed transfers out to obvious pension scams. During the years of Ark, Capita Oak, Westminster and Henley, the worst offenders were Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Prudential and Aviva as personal providers, and Royal Mail
FRIENDS LIFE – OR DEATH? WINDSOR PENSIONS QROPS SCAM (DANICA) Read More »
London Quantum pension scheme – trustees Dorrixo Alliance (Stephen Ward) toxic investments. London Quantum is a pension scheme whose trustee was a firm called Dorrixo Alliance run by our old friend Stephen Ward. That name will, of course, send a chill down the spines of many pension scam victims. Since 2010, Ward had been involved
LONDON QUANTUM (DORRIXO ALLIANCE) INVESTMENTS Read More »
Holborn Assets: This Toxic Dubai Firm Comes with a Health Warning Holborn Assets can seriously damage your life savings – and indeed your health and even life. Holborn Assets does have a few decent advisers. When I published the “Champagne Killer” blog last week, I was contacted by over a dozen advisers who asked me
HOLBORN ASSETS – HEALTH WARNING Read More »
WASPI – Women Against State Pension Inequality: a fight against equality, fairness, knowledge and transparency (lack thereof). I got into an interesting debate with Frances Coppola on Twitter last night (a very auspicious date: 17.7.17). Frances is a very knowledgeable and capable pension person – with whom I don’t always agree – but she
WASPI – EQUALITY, FAIRNESS, KNOWLEDGE AND TRANSPARENCY Read More »
HOLBORN ASSETS “CHAMPAGNE KILLER” APPROACH TO FINANCIAL ADVICE IS DESTROYING VICTIMS’ LIFE SAVINGS Holborn Assets “Champagne Killer” approach to financial advice is ruining victims. Holborn Assets is routinely destroying people’s pensions and life savings, and refusing to compensate the distraught victims facing poverty in retirement. The so-called “advisers” at Holborn Assets give investment advice (often
HOLBORN ASSETS AND THE CHAMPAGNE KILLER Read More »
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
SAIL FINANCIAL – ANOTHER SCAM? Read More »
BLACKMORE GLOBAL FUND – BLACK HOLE? A fund like Blackmore Global really ought to be audited as soon as possible – to make sure it isn’t simply a “black hole” into which victims’ hard-earned pensions have sunk. Numerous worried pension savers are stuck in the Blackmore Global Fund and finding it difficult – if not impossible
BLACKMORE GLOBAL FUND – ASSET OR BLACK HOLE? Read More »
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.
HYPOCRISY BY PARKER – HOLBORN ASSETS DUBAI – MONTFORT INTERNATIONAL Read More »
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
WHAT IS WORSE? A SCAMMER OR A SCAMMER’S LAWYER? Read More »
Knowing how to spot a scammer is half the battle in the fight against pension and investment scams. And my idol and hero in this fight is Darren Cooke of Red Circle Financial Planning. Armed with his petition calling for a cold-calling ban, he quickly became a t.v. star and National celebrity. UPDATE: Cold-calling has
HOW TO SPOT A SCAMMER (FOR DUMMIES) Read More »
DALRIADA V ARK VICTIMS: “ABUSE OF VULNERABLE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC” The Beddoe proceedings of Dalriada (tPR-appointed independent trustees) v Goldsmith (representative beneficiary for the Ark members) kicked off on 20th June 2017 in the High Court. It was a sweltering day in central London – humid and dusty at the same time. The Ark
DALRIADA V ARK VICTIMS: “ABUSE OF VULNERABLE MEMBERS” Read More »
IF – INVESTMENT FRAUD CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS In the famous poem extolling Victorian virtues – Kipling advises: “if you can watch the things you gave your life to, broken, and stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools, you’ll be a man my son!” Investment Fraud Victims’ Group Action and Task
IF CAMPAIGN – JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF INVESTMENT FRAUD Read More »
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
HOLBORN ASSETS’ NEW CALCULATOR Read More »
It takes balls to stand as a parliamentary candidate. It takes even bigger balls (or cojones as they say here in Spain) to champion a thorny cause and table an early day motion.Please vote for Greg if you are in Leeds North West. If you are in another constituency, please post and re-post this; tell
VOTE FOR GREG MULHOLLAND – LEEDS NORTH WEST Read More »
It is rare for me to say nothing. On this occasion, STM Group has stated they are going to stick their heads in the sand and zip their lips. They have facilitated a financial crime…….OK, enough said. For now. I will leave it to STM Group/Fidecs to decide what goes into this blog. They have
STM GROUP: THE TRAFALGAR MULTI ASSET PENSION INVESTMENT SCAM Read More »
The Serious Fraud Office has asked victims of the Capita Oak, Henley, Westminster and Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund scams to make a report so that these crimes can be investigated. But I am urging all victims of ALL scams to also make reports to the SFO, please. This story was first published by
SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE REQUESTS PENSION AND INVESTMENT SCAM REPORTS Read More »
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
PETER MOAT AND SARA MOAT – FAST PENSIONS Read More »
THE PENSION LIFE TICK CAMPAIGN: now that Andrew Warwick-Thompson, Executive Director for Regulatory Policy at the Pensions Regulator is joining LGPS Central as CEO, it is time for him to help us to ensure all negligent ceding providers compensate their victims. No doubt Andrew will engage enthusiastically with this campaign and lead by example. tPR Chair
TICK CAMPAIGN – NEGLIGENT PENSION PROVIDERS – STANDARD LIFE Read More »
Gambling is a very strictly controlled industry – and rightly so. Every individual jurisdiction has its own gambling or casino licenses which are usually very expensive and onerous to obtain and keep. Where large amounts of cash change hands every minute, it is obviously important to impose strict conditions and ensure that regulations are complied
GAMBLING WITH YOUR PENSION Read More »
“In some cultures, referring to someone as a “crocodile” is the worst insult one can inflict on his/her self-respect.” Let us dispel some myths once and for all. Crocodiles are marvelous creatures, efficient hunting machines and dutiful, loving parents. They also make rather stylish handbags. Ditto alligators. And snakes. When the Pensions Regulator published their
LGPS: SEE YOU LATER REGULATOR – IN A WHILE REPTILE Read More »
Steve Pimlott of Windsor Pensions is still scamming people out of their pensions. And seeking new victims on LinkedIn. Inviting people to: Transfer your frozen UK pensions to a QROPS He will charge between 10% and 20% and will use forged documentation from an obscure QROPS such as Danica and BSEC and then fool the ceding
WINDSOR PENSIONS STILL SCAMMING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS Read More »
Bye bye Tinky Winky. Good luck and have fun at LGPS! His next challenge will be to lead by example and ensure negligent ceding providers compensate their victims whose pensions were transferred into scams. And he can start with LGPS as a shining example so the rest can follow. As Tinky Winky sails off into the sunset
AWT’S NEXT CHALLENGE: NEGLIGENT CEDING PROVIDERS – STARTING WITH LGPS Read More »
JAMES HAY AND ELYSIAN BIOFUELS SCAM I always say that pension and investment scams happen because people, firms and authorities allow them to happen. This was very true in the Elysian Fuels pension liberation scam. Jack Gilbert of New Model Adviser broke the news today, 9.5.2017, of James Hay’s involvement in this: James Hay facing
JAMES HAY AND ELYSIAN BIOFUELS LIBERATION SCAM Read More »
The Pensions Regulator has sent out a clear message in the Johnsons Shoes case where an employer failed to comply with its legal obligations regarding workplace pensions: Our message is clear: fail to comply with the law and you may be fined. This was clearly the right course of action for the regulator to take
THE PENSIONS REGULATOR’S PLANS TO FINE PENSION SCAMMERS Read More »
Pension Life is joining forces with another group action in order to set up the Fraud Victims Task Force. The objective of this initiative is to reinforce the campaign to protect fraud victims. As outlined in Greg Mulholland’s motion before parliament was dissolved, victims want to see prosecutions and sanctions against those who commit fraud.
FRAUD VICTIMS TASK FORCE Read More »
The Tonight programme “How Safe is My Pension” aired on Thursday 4th May. An undercover “sting” exposed the operation of a pension cold calling scam. IFA Darren Cooke of Red Circle Financial Planning featured in the programme and spoke passionately about the dangers of cold calling. He ran a successful petition to campaign for a
Pension Cold Calling Scammers Read More »
HMRC are now sending out the tax demands (protected assessments) to victims of the Axiom UPT Pension Loan Scam. And we are busy appealing them. I have tried to contact Rex Ashcroft of Wealth Protection International to ask him what he intends to do to help the victims who were introduced to this scam by
Axiom UPT Pension Loan Scam Tax Demands Read More »
HMRC is reported to have collected a billion quid in APN tax demanded (Accelerated Payment Notice) in the past year. A figure of £2 billion is also reported in other Google searches according to other reports. We are talking about over 1,000 different types of tax – er – “planning” schemes flogged by accountants and
HMRC’s APN £1 Billion (or £2 Billion) Tax Demand: “TAKE THAT!” Read More »
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
CAPITA OAK – THE GINGER SCAMMER Read More »
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.
THE ROT OF GIBRALTAR’S “GOLDEN SA-TURD-AY AWARD” Read More »
Every time I think this book about pension scams is done and I can put it away, a new scam or scammer pops up and I have to rethink it. And every time I add in a new sentence or paragraph, the formatting and pagination need to be adjusted. But, however imperfect and unfinished it
ANATOMY OF A PENSION SCAM – eBOOK Read More »
Money doesn’t grow on trees – especially pension money and teak trees. Teak plantations, eucalyptus plantations and truffle tree farms are traditional pension “investments” of the scammers. One key example of such a pension investment scam was in May 2014 when the Pensions Regulator (tPR) banned the following scammers from being pension trustees for one
MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON TEAK TREES Read More »
The Pensions Regulator’s Lesley Titcomb has now officially and publicly declared that scammers are criminals. This begs the urgent question: why have so few – if any – of them been prosecuted? What we need now is all of the scammers behind bars and the keys thrown away. The purpose of the recently-published ebook “Anatomy
SCAMMERS ARE CRIMINALS – AND MUST BE PROSECUTED Read More »
This is the claim made by Holborn Assets’ CEO Bob Parker: “We are professional advisers adhering to the company’s mission which is to ensure that you get quality, independent advice and service, that your money is put in the right place at the right time and that you are treated with integrity and respect. Moreover,
HOLBORN ASSETS (OR LIABILITIES?) Read More »
Philip Hammond’s surprise 25% tax on QROPS transfers will leave many advisers and trustees floundering as the industry tries to make some sense of the long-term consequences for expatriates and their pensions. The uncertainty of the “five-year” change of circumstances rule will leave a huge question mark over the offshore landscape. But while the industry
TRUSSED BY A QROPS TRUSTEE? Read More »
RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON PENSION SCAMS AND COLD CALLING BY ANGIE BROOKS OF PENSION LIFE 13.2.2017 The Government consultation has been copied below,with my comments and answers in bold. —————————— —————————— —————————— Because of the size of individual pension pots, and because people do not have to engage with their savings until much later
RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON PENSION SCAMS AND COLD CALLING Read More »
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
STM’s Trafalgar Wind Up? Read More »
5G Futures: in May 2013 Garry John Williams and Susan Lynn Huxley were suspended as trustees of the 5G Futures pension scheme, and from trust schemes in general. Pi Consulting was appointed as the new trustee by the Pensions Regulator. About 400 people had invested a total of £20m into the 5G Futures scheme –
5G Futures – Do Your Homework! Read More »
COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PENSIONS REGULATOR RE THE ARK (AND OTHER) PENSION SCHEMES 30.12.2016 From ANGELA BROOKS OF PENSION LIFE BACKGROUND: PENSIONS REGULATOR’S OBLIGATIONS AND OBJECTIVES: ARK VICTIMS’ CIRCUMSTANCES: BACKGROUND: This official complaint is against the Pensions Regulator and other public bodies who were, or should have been, responsible for preventing pension scams and
COMPLAINT AGAINST PENSIONS REGULATOR Read More »
