Tag Archive for: Scam

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Truffle Farms and Pension Scams

David Austin, Susan Dalton, Alan Barratt and Julian Hanson of Friendly Pensions, were identified as the masterminds behind a £13.7 million pension scam and have now been banned from being trustees of pension schemes.

Funds raised were used to line the pockets of the trustees, with more than £10.3 million shunted into firms owned or controlled by ringleader David Austin, a former bankrupt.

The scam cheated 245 victims out of their pension savings after they were persuaded to transfer funds into one of 11 fraudulent schemes, which included a bogus Somerset truffle farm.

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Carbon Credit Fraud – Four Jailed

Southwark Crown Court has jailed four men over their part in a £2.4 million conspiracy to miss-sell carbon credits to 130 investors.

Company director Sandeep Dosanjh and senior brokers James Lanston and Charanjit Sandhu had earlier admitted their involvement in fraudulent sales made between January 2012 and August 2013 through, Harman Royce Ltd and Kendrick Zale Ltd, in the then-fledgeling carbon market.

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Operation Tidworth – 5 Jailed for 17.5 years

Operation Tidworth was the FCA’s second largest ever criminal prosecution.

The instigator and main beneficiary of the fraud, Michael Nascimento, will be sentenced separately on 14 September 2018.

In a case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), 5 individuals have been sentenced to a total of 17.5 years’ imprisonment for their roles in a share fraud carried out through a series of boiler room companies which led to the loss of more than £2.8m of investors’ money.

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If only they’d contacted IYE first….

…. another £6 million lost by investors

This is money today reported that a British businessman dubbed the ‘bling king’ is being investigated for money laundering and fraud after expats lost up to £6 million by investing in his companies.

Money Mail has spoken to a number of residents on the Costa del Sol who say Rhys Williams persuaded them to plough money into Dubai-based companies by offering fixed returns of 2% per month on their investments.

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Do you know this man?

A man from Glasgow placed on FBI’s ‘most wanted’ list

James Alexander Ward, 65 has been on the run for six years after being accused of ripping off victims in a precious metals fraud scheme in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ward, also uses the name Jamie, regularly dyes his red hair and uses aliases. He is known to travel to Mexico, Canada, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The FBI alleges that Ward earned $400,000 via bogus deals involving gold, silver and platinum from at least 12 investors. Ward is accused of violating strict US commodities, law, along with his business partner Nathanial Walker, in 2011.

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New FCA Advert on Pension Scams

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.

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How a Ponzi scheme works

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?

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