Since 2010, £millions have been lost to pension scams, thousands of victims have lost their retirement savings, large-scale misery and poverty are the terrible results. One common factor connects many of these scams: one man – Stephen Ward.

Here at Pension Life we have made a video – based on the Mastermind quiz.  Lessons must be learned from the dozens of scams, headed by Stephen Ward, which ruined thousands of lives and destroyed hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of pensions.

Premier Pension Solutions, Stephen Ward’s company in Moraira on the Costa Blanca, was responsible for the Ark pension liberation scam. Ward had advised 160 victims to transfer £10m worth of secure pensions into this scheme on the promise of having 50% of their pensions paid to them in cash. 2011 saw the Pensions Regulator place the scheme in the hands of Dalriada Trustees.  The High Court called the Ark scheme a “fraud on the power of investment”.

Ward then went on to his next scam: Evergreen New Zealand QROPS and the Marazion “loans”.  The “sister company”, Continental Wealth Management, was running the cold-calling operation to lure victims in – and some of the CWM salesmen were hanging around outside supermarkets to try to trap people into this scam.  When Evergreen was removed from the QROPS list, Ward continued to work with CWM. It is not known how many other Stephen Ward/Premier Pension Solutions scams CWM was involved in.

Mastermind – Stephen Ward

1. Who is the owner and director of the Spanish firm Premier Pension Solutions based in Moraira on the Costa Blanca in Spain?

 Stephen Ward

2. In 2010, who was running road shows in the United Kingdom to promote the Ark pension liberation schemes and recruit introducers?

Stephen Ward

3. In the Ark pension scam, which operated in 2010/11, who was the biggest introducer with more than £10m worth of transfers?

 Stephen Ward

4. Who is the author of the Tolley’s Pensions Taxation Manual described as an essential reference source for all tax practitioners?

Stephen Ward

 5. Who administered the pension transfer administration in the Capita Oak scam which saw 300 victims lose £10m worth of pensions and is now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office?

Stephen Ward

  6. Who handled the pension transfer administration of the Westminster pension scam which saw 79 victims lose over £3.3 million pounds to worthless investments: now also under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office?

 Stephen Ward

 

 7. Who was the trustee for the London Quantum pension scheme now in the hands of Dalriada Trustees and invested in high-risk, illiquid investments such as Dolphin Trust which paid investment introduction commissions of up to 30%?

 Stephen Ward

8. Which Level 6 qualified former pensions examiner and IFA in 2014 was famously quoted as saying: “The schemes with which we are involved are completely above board.  The Ark thing is history now.”

Stephen Ward

9. Who was promoting the Elysian Fuels SIPPS liberation scheme which he described as allowing members to “trouser” most of their pension fund in cash?

Stephen Ward

 

 10. Who was the owner of the loan company Marazion which operated pension liberation loans in the Evergreen QROPS scam which saw around 300 people lose £10 million worth of pension funds?

Stephen Ward

What is a Pension Scam?