London Capital and Finance

Supercalafragalistic

Re. Operation Axite....wonder if the sfo are able to somehow freeze the assetts of surge et al, whilst investigating.
Also when you are investigated by the sfo...if found guilty, what are the penalties?

digannio

It's still a very significant step that arrests have been made (standard practice to release people while enqiries continue) and that they have issued a press release on the investigation and outlining other parties involved in the probe.

keyboard_warrior

I do feel for those that have lost out but struggle to understand how their desire to invest and be suckered by confirmation bias is not anything other than greed.

Especially as in hindsight most of the investors agree this was too good to be true but are still struggling to come to terms with why and how they fell for the scam and take responsibility for their actions = cognitive dissonance.

There will always be scammers out there and always people who fall for it. Regulators can and should do their part.

Just as many got caught by social media ads they only had to spend a few more minutes doing some sensible research to find this post which spelt out the warnings and with clear instructions to walk away from some years ago.

I've just come across another potential scam akin to this with a company called buy2let cars / wheels4sure.

Searched on here and found some old posts. Would be good to read an update now they've seemingly been in business 7 years.

Malthusian

Alexland wrote: »

So they couldn't proactively write a letter with a set of questions to all investors?

They would need the client list from the administrators. It seems far easier to let the administrators pass on the link to the SFO's set of questions, as they are already in regular communication with all 11,000 bondholders.

Also when you are investigated by the sfo...if found guilty, what are the penalties?

Assuming it's fraud you're guilty of, up to 10 years plus a fine.

adindas

People who visit this MSE forum regularly should already aware about the LC&F. There are already huge amount of warning in this forum. It seems they are using a boiler room technique to practice "pump and dump" scheme.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/serious-fraud-office-arrests-four-over-collapse-of-bond-firm-lcf-a4094631.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47454328

"Controversially, Surge was being paid 25% commission on the funds raised, making it extremely unlikely that LCF would be able to make a profit on its loans. LCF bondholders had been tempted into investing with the promise of annual interest payments of up to 9%."

"While investors allege it gave them the impression it was lending to large numbers of businesses, it has emerged that the money went to just 12"

It might they just lend the money to their own business, friends and then run away with the money after moving/ hiding the money they have taken.

masonic

A_T wrote: »

I've some sympathy but it lessens when I read claims that "for a month they researched LCF" which sounds like BS.

You get the impression many are angling for a government bailout on the grounds that the regulator didn't offer enough protection.

From some of the discourse coming from the facebook groups, it is clear some are strongly urging the administrators to pursue this at £500 per hour (or some similar highly inflated hourly rate) at the cost of all bondholders, and with very little hope of success. There are very clear rules governing when the FSCS does and does not apply.

talexuser

Before you get too exited about the arrests, look at the success rate of the SFO in prosecutions or redress.

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice-points/the-emperor-has-no-clothes--time-to-scrap-the-serious-fraud-office/5061464.article

Sledger

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/serious-fraud-office-arrests-four-over-collapse-of-bond-firm-lcf-a4094631.html

Cant recall when our Eaton Golding got torpedoed from this site but what he implied transpired and still unclear of where he was coming from sporting that name and if and how he was a victim of some wrongdoing.

Sledger

jimjames wrote: »

Looks like Operation Axite will have a lot of information to sift through. I'm not sure if it's good or bad news for investors though but would explain why the administrators think there is little to recover.

https://damn-lies-and-statistics.blogspot.com/2019/03/sfo-investigation-london-capital-finance.html

For a group of clever professional scammers who set up this up with carefull planning years in advance with the maize of companies you would have thought they would have factored in not to show sudden wealth exposing themselves as per the last paragrpah Seems Careless to the extreme

James_Green_1982

A_T wrote: »

I've some sympathy but it lessens when I read claims that "for a month they researched LCF" which sounds like BS.

You get the impression many are angling for a government bailout on the grounds that the regulator didn't offer enough protection.

Can the government please compensate me when my shares fall?

Of course. Just let them know when your shares in a house-builder are looking shaky. They'll step in with a HTB type scheme ASAP.

Problems with the bank you've bought shares in? Looks like it may go bust? Fear not - HMG will buy a substantial amount of equity to ensure the bank does not fail.