The golfing event may be almost 2 years old but it is one of the very few photos, if not the only one, of Charles `Charlie` Walton, the creator of probably the biggest, most damaging, lie the Costa del Sol has known: the Spanish Equity Release Scheme, and all the diverse spurious variations of the same sold to hundreds of unencumbered property owners.
Charlie Walton, who is now trading in gold (perhaps eager to emulate ‘Sir’ Nigel Goldman) is basically an unregistered unqualified Costa-cowboy who made millions cheating everyone, from pensioners to IFAs, from banks to investment companies, from lawyers to…more lawyers (the manipulated Uria & Menéndez report on equity release springs to mind).
It is simply dumbfounding to contemplate the profesional history of man who boasts having been Sales Director for ‘Premier Group’, a company that for starters, operated illegally in Spain…not without the conniving assistance of turn-a-blind-eye Isle of Man financial regulators.
We shall not end this post without giving out a word of warning: do not do business with this man…until he comes forward to help clean up the mess he and his great lie created.
(Read about Charlie Walton’s recent Golf Game).
Charlie Charles Walton got it wrong, very wrong.
A with happens with financial cowboys, this unscrupulous and irresponsible operator saw the possibility of making millions by using most efficient too in their book: deceit.
His current firm now appears to be linked to an offshore IFA association that gets regular mentions on the Costa del Sol Action Group website.
Perhaps after this exposure the Costa residents will see that this is certainly a man not to be trusted. What mayhem he has caused to the Ex-Pat pensioners.
How does Charlie Wilson consistently get away with fleecing elderly Spanish residents?
The procedure is simple:-
To circumvent regulation of the “product” choose a “product provider” based in a tax haven such as Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Luxemburg where providing these products are NOT sold inside their jurisdictions the financial regulators couldn’t care less if the product is marketed illegally (using misleading or down right false information) in another country.
Then import the phony brochures on the sly into Spain and start selling the product without registration or licence from the Spanish government – and with the assistance of similarly unregistered and unqualified “agents” sell the bogus “product” to elderly people.
By operating under the radar of the Spanish authorities the scam can be accomplished before the victims discover their mistake and it is too late or very difficult for them to claim restitution! Meanwhile the “agents” are paid off via other secretive tax havens and there is no public record of commissions or tax contributions – if any!
How can it be prevented?
Stop tax havens hosting dodgy financial products and being complicit in fraud.
Make it a criminal offence to market financial products in Spain without first having the product, its marketing brochures and the persons involved in selling the product legally approved by the Spanish government regulators.