Acquaintance has 10k of mine for investment gone wrong

savvysearcher

HHarry said:

The deal was you’d give 3 months notice, and you’ve given 5 weeks?  With a verbal deadline for a further 2?

I was aggrieved that the returns promised had not materialised and he had not communicated reasons why. Gut instinct is that investment went sour hence requesting monies back, in full or installments. 3 months timescales is fine,  but i just need a commitment timescale from him. 

SFindlay

Think you're all missing the point here and looking at it like the money has actually been invested!!! It's more likely never been anywhere near an investment and sounds to me it is a plain old scam / fraudulent scheme!!
Have you ANY evidence that the money has been invested?
Do you know the name of the alleged investor? Why hand over 10K on being given a "kind of a receipt that wasnt signed"?? 
I suspect zero chance of recovering the money but time to contact the police re the possibility of criminal activity should be the next move.

bargainhunter888

So basically, your wife gave £10k to a friend who gave it to another friend, that's where it ends, doesnt seem like anything can be done other than take them to court? but as it's not official, not sure what can be done

savvysearcher

Looking more closely at the signed document dated 15/2/18, its signed ny the so called investor (his name and address is also listed) witnessed the acquaintance but not signed by him. Lists the payment as a loan of 10k, term of 8.4 years.  I am yet to clarify this term meaning.  In any case it does say all monies can be withdrawn if 90 days notice is given.  I know this all looks bad,  especially with mention of loan. In discussions with the wife it was not said it was a loan,  rather investment. Yes, i agree no actual proof it was invested and could have just gone in the acquaintance's back pocket! The mention of word loan and term period i feel is not a good sign. A mess indeed.  

dunstonh

Investing by way of a business is a regulated activity in the UK (if investing in things like the stockmarket).   If it's a commercial activity, like lending money to businesses, then it is not.   
I think it is time they went to a solicitor.   Actually, the time to go to a solicitor was before they entered into the agreement.  However, they need to do it now.

Malthusian

kinger101 said:

Malthusian said:

kinger101 said:

When did you ask for the money back.  If it was three months ago [I hope this was in writing], then you'll at least need to threaten court action.  Sounds like they already think you're a pushover.  I'd write a letter before action, and then initiate a small claims court claim seven days later.  Provided of course, whoever has the money has assets to repay them.  Doesn't matter if it was the original £10K, or they have to sell their home.

The original £10k is already gone, either spent or paid to another investor to make them go away. Even if they have a house it's unlikely to go far when all the other people they scammed file their claims. Unfortunately the money is almost certainly gone, unless they were FCA-registered.

OP - ask your wife what else she has invested in as there is a significant chance this is not her first or last scam.

There's a contradiction in your post.  If OP's £10K has been paid to another investor to make them go away, then presumably, making more of a noise is more likely for OP to get their £10K.  Letter before action is the cost of a first class stamp.

Mathematics dictates that only a tiny minority of investors can get their money back that way. By the time most investors want their money back it's already too late. The OP might be in that minority but as someone else said, Covid means the chances that new money is still going into the scheme are even lower than usual.

Alistair31

savvysearcher said:

Looking more closely at the signed document dated 15/2/18, its signed ny the so called investor (his name and address is also listed) witnessed the acquaintance but not signed by him. Lists the payment as a loan of 10k, term of 8.4 years.  I am yet to clarify this term meaning.  In any case it does say all monies can be withdrawn if 90 days notice is given.  I know this all looks bad,  especially with mention of loan. In discussions with the wife it was not said it was a loan,  rather investment. Yes, i agree no actual proof it was invested and could have just gone in the acquaintance's back pocket! The mention of word loan and term period i feel is not a good sign. A mess indeed.  

You/your wife obviously have a lot of money if you can give it away on a whim, still, I see absolutely no reason why you wouldn’t pay him a visit and make it clear in no uncertain terms that you want it back and ASAP. If he’s spanked other naive ‘investors’ for similar sums then you want to put yourself at the front of the line of people he needs to get off his back. 

Reaper

I'm amazed your wife was willing to hand over £10k for an investment opportunity without knowing what it was. I suggest you make joint investment decisions in future and stick to FCA registered investment companies.

Takedap

savvysearcher said:

Looking more closely at the signed document dated 15/2/18, its signed ny the so called investor (his name and address is also listed) witnessed the acquaintance but not signed by him. Lists the payment as a loan of 10k, term of 8.4 years.  I am yet to clarify this term meaning.  In any case it does say all monies can be withdrawn if 90 days notice is given.  I know this all looks bad,  especially with mention of loan. In discussions with the wife it was not said it was a loan,  rather investment. Yes, i agree no actual proof it was invested and could have just gone in the acquaintance's back pocket! The mention of word loan and term period i feel is not a good sign. A mess indeed.  

How long ago was this investment made?   Have you really received no communication since 2018?   Why have you only started worrying now?

fiisch

I think you have two options:

1).  Accept the money is gone and exercise better judgement in future;

2).  Stop phoning and start putting things in writing, and progress via the courts using the agreed terms.  (It doesn't matter how aggrieved you are, if the terms dictated 3 months to withdraw money, then that's the terms of the contract).  You need to follow a more formal process - phonecalls and ranting will get you nowhere.  At the very least, putting your request in writing may carry more weight and encourage the con artist legitimate marketing investor guru to cough up.