Reported widely by BBC News this morning is a new TV advert from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator warning of the huge increase in Pension Scams. With a shocking average loss of £91,000 per victim, you can understand why the regulator is worried and why it still proliferates.
Although IYE Global was formed recently our investigators have significant international experience in criminal investigation. A case recently concluded, followed a two-year investigation involving fraud across three continents. IYE working closely with the FBI and others have been instrumental in bringing two more criminals to justice.
We have covered a few fraud cases in the IYE Global blog posts and also covered the targeting of professional sportsmen and women by fraudsters as they are seen as cash rich.
One area we have not yet covered is the devastating impact this can have on the mental health of the victims. This can range from simple embarrassment through to suicide. We know of cases where people have lost their homes, their families and have been forced into bankruptcy.
The Times today reports further details of the picture emerging of the Beaufort Securities scandal.
As they report, as City scandals go, the collapse of Beaufort Securities was a humdinger. Having been shut down by the financial conduct authority in March 2018, it was reported just hours later the London-based stockbroker was under criminal indictment in the United States over allegations of money laundering and securities fraud.
The FBI is now five months into their investigation and the American prosecutors have secured their first guilty plea from one of six people charged in relation to the Beaufort scandal, as well as extraditing a British financier from Hungary to New York to face trial.
A very good article in This is Money yesterday highlighted something we come across at IYE Global a lot. Most investors are aware that if they stay below the Financial Services Compensation Scheme threshold – currently £85,000 per bank – their savings are protected.
But what about other investments, indeed, what about your pension which can be a far greater figure and significantly more important for retirement?
The FSCS limit for investments is £50,000 per firm you invest with. An important note here, this doesn’t cover you if the value of your shares or funds falls, but for such things as bad advice, mis-selling and maladministration.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent report into investment platforms revealed that out of their average investable assets of £260,000, the average customer held £91,000 on a platform.
TailorMade Independent (TMI) was an unregulated company based in Cheshire and run by Alistair Burns who was fined and banned by the Financial Conduct Authority back in December 2016 for failure to provide suitable advice to clients and for failing to ensure effective management of conflicts of interest.
As of 25 April 2018, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme received and accepted 1,371 claims against TMI, with compensation totalling over £55.6 million. However, because of the £50,000 compensation limit, the FSCS was unable to cover all the losses, which totalled over £106.5 million.
At IYE Global we investigate a number of potential investments that would fall into the realm of a Ponzi scheme. In all cases, we report our findings to the relevant lawful authorities for criminal investigation and prosecution but what exactly is a Ponzi scheme and how do these schemes work?
Freddy David the Managing Director of the now-defunct HBFS Wealth Management swindled his clients out of £14.5 million to fund his gambling addiction, as well as paying for his children’s school fees and exotic family holidays.
Freddy a financial adviser took the money from 55 people, many of whom were friends, in the Jewish community, some of who are now left destitute. Sums between £20,000 and £750,000 were individually invested.
The recent Ronaldo tax case is a very interesting study. There is no question Ronaldo was acting on the advice of his professional advisors, yet he, not his advisors is the one left with a criminal conviction, a two-year suspended jail sentence and a payment for €18.9 million (£16.8 million) to settle his tax fraud case with Spanish authorities.
Ronaldo was accused last year of not paying €14.8 million in taxes between 2011 and 2014 using a shell company in the British Virgin Islands to disguise income earned on his image rights.
Ronaldo was shown to have benefited from a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company.
This was used to receive image royalties, prior to his becoming resident in Spain, allowing him to avoid income tax on foreign income.
IYE Global’s legal team is based in Monaco. They have considerable experience of English and EU commercial law. A recent IYE Global case involved a UK transport company being contacted by a company from the USA. They claimed they were looking to expand their operation from the USA into the UK and EU and were looking for a ‘partner’ company to help them.
