Pension Advice

dunstonh

Hippo1957 wrote: »

It is amazing that these type of banned and untrustworthy financial advisers continue to be employed. Why do employers such as Globaleye not do background checks on such individuals who have no integrity and worse. Perhaps Globaleye's Compliance department needs notification before he repeats the scam on other unfortunate and unsuspecting individuals.

The UK has a level of consumer protection and is highly regulated. Individual advisers do have to have checks carried out on them.

However, this company you mention is not based in the UK and you cannot apply UK standards to overseas countries. Most of Asia and the middle east has ethics, sales process and standards at a level that would be comparable to the 1970s/80s in the UK.

coyrls

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs?_ga=1.185971691.333818627.1394558907

Geoffgt

Hi, I was also ripped off by PCD I've just been catching up on the various blogs on what's happening about PCD advisers, having already waited about 5 years for the FOS to process my complaint against Hornbuckle, without much progress. I didn't realise there were a couple of blogs around about this debacle, always too busy working, a failing of many of us nowadays!
I notice that a 3rd 'IFA' has never been mentioned, a 'Director' (I won't name him yet, possibly this is actually Patrick Gray, posing with a fraudulent name?), who approached me in Baku Azerbaijan where I worked, along with several of my colleagues, and transferred 80% of my approx £90k from my Skandia and Phoenix pensions schemes (unlike apparently all the others' Equitable Life policies) to Quadris funds under Generali with Trustees Hornbuckle, the rest as cash fund, so 20% is still OK. This 3rd person disappeared off the radar screen and Mark Kelly took over correspondence. Notable that Kelly was based in a Cyprus office as far as I could make out, not England. They appeared to be tied to Generali as they wouldn't hear of any other provider for my pension. At least it's easy to check up on the Generali website as to the value of the funds. Another IOM offshore savings bond which I insisted they set up with Skandia (now Old Mutual International) is actually doing quite well, but this was my choice, without their financial advice, although they lost my original policy document for it, now I am only allowed by OMI to have an idiotically named Certificate of Lost Document.
I'm a bit annoyed that the Met Police didn't contact me, how many other victims have they missed, the £24m is possibly only a fraction of what they misappropriated.
I have contacted the police to see if it's not too late to provide my personal experience with PCD.
As mentioned before, Patrick Gray is now providing advice in Dubai, his profile in Linked In appears to support this.
Information on the status of the Quadris funds is no longer available on their website as it was before, instead a new 'Controller' has taken over the administration and they can only be contacted by email or snailmail. The admin has changed or been rearranged several times with no obvious solution or positive info to it's investors, and the latest we can expect access to our savings they have informed, would be 2026 or even 2032, if at all, when I'll be 69 or 75. Luckily for me I'm younger than several of others affected. Of course the present and previous administrators and their entourage will receive a handsome remuneration from the funds, which doesn't help the liquidity at all.
Unfortunately the posts in these blogs are getting fewer and fewer, inferring that we are all giving up hope?
I hope not... perhaps more victims like me will continue to add their experiences and updates to it.
Always feels better after putting one's frustration into words…
Any other updates anyone, either personally or generally?
Good luck, all of you

Home_Counties

I keep an occasional eye on this forum in case anything useful has been posted, or when I have anything useful to say myself.


I've had a few letters from Quadris recently (via Hornbuckle) and they make grim reading. The situation there seems to be going from bad to worse. I always thought I'd get *something* back from Quadris at some point. The assets (trees) are still growing in Brazil and there will surely be some demand for teak when they mature, if not at the levels we were led to believe. But with the fund defaulting on its obligations and this Dutch investor (CV Alvore) threatening to foreclose, it's looking like small investors like me could be left with nothing.


I haven't heard from the Met Police in ages, so I don't know what (if anything) is happening there regarding the PCD investigation.

paul_clark_2

Hi again, I'm still tapping my feet, ageing gracefully and waiting for action, not just activity, from both what used to be the FSA (including Action Fraud who have yet to even acknowledge yet alone respond to my initial complaint) and also the Metropolitan Fraud Squad whom I first contacted in 2010, who are still holding my original correspondence as evidential material together with a formal statement taken at my home several years ago.

No contact, no update, no nothing. Probably by now the case passed to another officer.

As Mark Kelly was formally arrested on 9th June 2016 I'd be interested to know if he has yet been prosecuted or let off the hook. What about arresting his then employers at Inter Alliance in Cyprus under a European Arrest Warrant (one of whom is associated with a West Country Investment agency).

Although Orange Telecoms closed down the service which handled my email for years (FS NET) and I am now with Outlook.com, my landline and postal address has not changed so the relevant authorities can contact me, but apparently are not interested in doing so.

I refrained from private action on Police advice and now feel badly let down.

Any advice welcome.

Regards to all in a similar situation.

jmsjt

The last posting has prompted me to reply with some information. I contacted the officer at the Met who was dealing with the case in September 2017, regarding any progress with the case. The gist of his reply was that the paperwork had been handed over to the CPS for further action during March / April 2016. To date no decision has been made for whatever reason. Things therefore seem to be at a standstill. I recently shut down my SIPP with HM and received £38k, my pension pot that was transferred from Equitable was £94k, therefore I am £56k out of pocket due to failed investments and fees taken without my knowledge. I am by no means convinced that any further action will be taken by the criminal and financial authorities, a cynical person might think that they rather hope that the victims of this particular situation will give up and go away to avoid any embarrassment to the regulators (FSA / FCA) who ought to have prevented this from happening to us.

dunstonh

to avoid any embarrassment to the regulators (FSA / FCA) who ought to have prevented this from happening to us.

This thread is from 2010 and i am not going to read the whole thing again. However, a speed read indicates that the firm was not a regulated firm and was based overseas. In which case the food standards agency or financial conduct authority have no remit.

Home_Counties

I really don't understand the long delay. You would think that after all this time (eight years and counting) the police and CPS would either proceed with a criminal prosecution, or formally drop the case, let us all know, and return our documentation.


Right now I don't really mind which of those it is as I've long since given up hope of recovering the money fraudulently taken from me.


The remaining questions for me concern the status of the Quadris fund and whether I will see any of that money back, and when I can close the Hornbuckle SIPP and the SEB / Irish Life bond (oh happy day when I can finally walk away from all that).

wellspurs

My father recently passed away and now my mother has a decision to make. My father was in receipt of Mineworkers pension and now they are offering my mother three options;

1 £85 per week
2 £18000 lump sum and £26 per week
3 £29000 lump sum

My mother is 83 next birthday receives a weekly income comprising state pension etc of £200 per week.

Obviously how long she lives is a major undetermined factor but if she opts for the lump sums does anyone know the possible tax implications please?

Linton

wellspurs wrote: »

My father recently passed away and now my mother has a decision to make. My father was in receipt of Mineworkers pension and now they are offering my mother three options;

1 £85 per week
2 £18000 lump sum and £26 per week
3 £29000 lump sum

My mother is 83 next birthday receives a weekly income comprising state pension etc of £200 per week.

Obviously how long she lives is a major undetermined factor but if she opts for the lump sums does anyone know the possible tax implications please?

Assuming your father was over 75 when he died a lump sum will be taxed as income so if her total annual income is £10400 she will get a bit more than £1000 tax free and the rest taxed at 20% with tax deducted before she receives the money.

It is possible that because of the way the tax system works that excess tax will be deducted which will need to be reclaimed from HMRC.