On Thursday 14th July, Bilbao Courts heard the case of a number of the SITIRS (Spanish Inheritance Tax and Income Release Scheme) product against Surrenda Link and Premier Isle of Man companies.
From the victims’ part, lawyers insisted –and proved beyond doubt- on the crucial lack of regulatory clearance on not only the product, but the financial entities and the IFAs. Lawyers also proved that the inheritance tax reduction proposition was fraudulent. Our lawyers alleged that the product, called SITIRS (Spanish Inheritance Tax and Income Scheme), was a sham in every aspect. They also evidenced that lawyers appointed to act for victims were for the most part on the list of SLM appointed lawyers.
A witness who had worked for Hamilton’s attended as the hearing and confirmed that clients were approached by telephone cold-calling. The witness also advised that IHT was the main reason why this product ever existed, in the first place. When asked by the Judge if her company was registered, the witness stated that it had applied for a license but never received a reply from the CNMV.
For the part of SLM and Premier, the former argued that all risks were properly presented to the customer by signing the relevant forms. Insofar as Premier is concerned, their main allegation was that they were a different company from the one that sold the product during the 2005-2007 period.
The presiding Judge took an interest in the case beyond what is normal and tried, whether successfully or not, to understand the mechanics of this product. At one point, she argued that if this whole financial proposition was so difficult for legal people to understand, what chances did pensioners have (?).
The trial took six hours and the parties presented their oral conclusions.
The ruling will be issued any time now although, as August is a Court holiday month, it may be that we do not hear any more until September.
The directors of the Isle of Man based Premier Group (Premier) have a long history of miss-selling financial products to pensioners in Spain. These scams were facilitated by Premier’s failure to register both their company and its financial “products” with the Spanish CNMV (Regulator) and by employing “commission only” sharks to help promote products (usually by cold calling) who were also unregulated and unregistered.
Premier hawked at least five other products/funds all of which were financial disasters. One was known as “The Low Risk Fund” which in fact it was a complex “high risk” speculation using large bank loans to gamble in unpredictable assets. Pensioners lost up to half of their savings in this Premier “product” … whilst in other Premier product pensioners lost ALL of their savings.
Long before Premier launched the SITIRS product the Isle of Man government (including the Chief Minister and all the islands regulatory authorities) were fully briefed about Premier’s iactivities in Spain.
If the Chief Minister had acted honorably then Premier would have been kicked out of Spain long before they were able to cause the misery resulting from the illegal SITIRS product. But despite repeated requests from Premier’s victims to stop Premier using the Isle of Man as a base to launch repeated attacks on the pensioner’s savings he refused to take any action.
If the Spanish government regulators were aware of Premier’s illegal presence in Spain they would have been unable to act as Premier is not a Spanish registered company and is able to hide outside the legal jurisdiction of the Spanish authorities. And as reported above Premier changed the trading name of its Isle of Man registered company, BUT NOT ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS and then denied any responsibility for their illegal activities in Spain.
Interestingly two of Premier’s directors have recently resigned and join the list of twelve different Company Secretaries who Premier have employed in as many years.
One person, in a position of power and who knew exactly what was going on,could have halted Premier’s illegal rape of pensioner’s homes and savings. He failed to take action,
When he retires he will probably receive a knighthood!
All roads appear to lead back to the Isle of Man and its government.
For instance; When Mr Alan Bell (then Treasury Minister now Chief Minister) went before the Isle of Man parliament to outlaw “experienced investor funds” (unregulated funds designed for professional/institutional investors only which were riddled with ambiguous and convoluted loopholes) he failed to divulge that Premier were exploiting these funds to obtain the life savings of inexperienced pensioner’s living in Spain.
And while this proposed legislation was debated (and then passed) in the parliament Mr Bell neglected the opportunity to inform the house that one of the reasons for the new laws was that hundreds (perhaps thousands) of pensioners had fallen victim to the miss-selling of these tortuous funds.
These funds were in the same category of product (including Premier Balanced and Optima Funds) where the equity/cash released from the homes of their SITIRS victims was placed … with disastrous results!
Although Mr. Bell had obvious opportunities to halt Premier’s activities, the equally well apprised Mr. John Aspden (Head of the Isle of Man financial regulator – the Financial Supervision Commission) was in a similar position.
He also failed to take action and recently retired on a large pension – plus the MBE!
In all, a travesty of decency and justice.
Perhaps the Isle of Man government was negligent in failing to prevent an Isle of Man registered company (plc) from using the island as a base to wreak havoc amongst elderly people living in Spain…
This government inaction allowed Premier’s directors to escape reprimand for misrepresenting both their financial “products” and the commission driven “salesmen” (who they described as “professional financial advisors” when in reality they were unqualified, unregistered and unregulated impostors).
And the more the Isle of Man government ignored Premier’s activities, the more Premier’s directors felt confident in misleading the public finally leading up to the launch of the catastrophic SITIRS product.
The SITIRS strategy was a cynical plan designed to obtain more investment cash for Premier’s line-up of useless “funds”. Funds which appear to have been designed to benefit Premier’s directors and the banks, accountants, lawyers, salesmen who sucked money out of them – and rarely to reward the unfortunate pensioners who were bamboozled, by nefarious means, into investing/ participating in them.
Let us all pray that the Bilbao Court rule in favour of the plaintives, and restore them to the financial position they enjoyed before their encounter with Premier – and that they can then seek compensatory and punitive damages (and perhaps breach of contract) for the financial and emotional anguish these elderly people have suffered. If Premier’s directors are unable to pay make them sell their own homes after the style they are attempting to force on their victims.
And expose the monstrous defence now used by Premier’s directors that they are not to blame because, even though they are the same people, they have changed the company name so can no longer be held to account!
The Louis Group is another Isle of Man registered company who used the same scams as the Premier Group by misrepresenting complex and unregulated “Experienced Investor Funds” (EIFs) claiming they were “low risk” when in reality they were “high risk”.
The Louis Group eventually went bust – taking £60 million inexperienced/innocent investor’s money with it!
And like the Premier Group the Isle of Man government regulators have (to date) taken NO action against the directors of the Louis Group … although they have prosecuted the Isle of Man-based professional, independent financial advisors (IFAs) who peddled the fraud (to Isle of Man residents) on the basis that they were: “professional IFAs” who should have known better and not relied on misleading information published in Louis Group marketing brochures!
The IFAs were ordering to pay £243,000 compensation whilst the Louis Group got away scot-free!
And here rests the BIG difference between Premier Group and the Louis Group.
The Louis Group conducted their “dodgy deals” through properly registered, regulated and qualified, professional IFAs whereas the Premier Group conducted their “devious deals” via their own “agents” who they had recruited and paid via secretive shell companies registered in Caribbean tax havens. None of Premier’s “agents” were professional, independent, qualified, registered or regulated, financial advisors, yet Premier’s directors continually and brazenly represented them (in writing) as such. Not forgetting that both the Premier company and Premier’s “agents” were all working in Spain without a licence.
The Louis Group directors claimed that “God made us do it!”
The Premier Group directors have yet to announce “who made them do it.”
For more info … Google the “Louis Group Isle of Man”.
For reasons not immediately apparent the directors of the Premier Group (Isle of Man) Ltd appear unable to retain Company Secretaries in their employ for any length of time – and 12 Secretaries have found the need to “resign” in as many years.
Another “thought-provoking” fact is that in November 2014 it became public knowledge that claimants had filed a civil complaint against Premier for selling tax defrauding schemes (worth a total of €7.5 million) through misrepresentation and deceit, – and the Premier Group Limited had legal proceedings against them accepted by the Courts in Bilbao, Spain.
This news/information was to coincide with a spate of resignations of Premier’s directors, including:-
* Premier director A.J. Parry resigned – 31 March 2015.
* Premier director C.C. Myers resigned – 30 April 2015.
* Premier director R.T.D. Stott resigned – 27 July 2015.
Leaving just J.C. Bourbon, W.M. Burgoyne, M.J. Richardson, and M.B. Thomas to hold the Premier company reins, trading under whatever name they should choose – which appears infinitely flexible.
The postal addresses of these gentlemen are available should any past/present shareholders in Premier’s disastrous “funds” venture to enquire how many more directors will be resigning, how many more company secretaries will need to be replaced and what name the company(s) will be trading under next week.
The directors are not famous for replying to shareholders’ letters, so do not expect an immediate response.
The various funds and products launched by The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited are all registered “plc” (public limited companies) which under Company Law means that they are owned by the shareholder/investors. In other words those people who were doomed to transfer money into the funds are technically the owners of the funds and Premier’s directors are merely employees..
This means that the shareholders should have been consulted about any change made by the directors in Premier’s trading title AND receive a full explanation for this change. As they were definitely not consulted this oversight questions the legality of Premier’s “new” trading title.
Also when the shareholders/investors in Premier’s group of companies presented Premier’s auditors (Deloitte) and bank (Royal Bank of Scotland) with a substantial dossier of prima facia evidence indicating that Premier’s directors were obtaining bank transfers from elderly people by an (alleged) variety of fraudulent means, both the bank and auditors ignored this evidence.
And even though complaints about the activities of Premier’s directors were submitted over a period of several years both parties continued to ignore allegations of fraud.
It would appear that both Deloitte and the Royal Bank of Scotland wish to remain complaint with the Isle of Man’s government’s established ethos of ignoring allegations that elderly people’s savings (and homes) were being purloined by Premier’s illegally activities in Spain. And both companies continue to benefit from the charges and fees they levy on Premier’s funds – revenue which is funded entirely by the shareholders and of highly questionable provenance.
Never invest/bank a penny on the Isle of Man; you may never see it again.
The Isle of Man Chief Minister Mr Allan Bell, has announced his retirement claiming that the Brexit vote had been the “deciding factor” and that :- “It’s probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I’ve agonised over this for many weeks.”
An easier “decision” would have been for him to exercise his authority and prevented the Isle of Man based Premier Group from continuing its presence and activities in Spain, selling elderly people a variety of questionable and useless funds and financial “products”.
The pensioner’s “agonizing” can be counted in years rather than weeks – with some dying prematurely as a consequence of the trauma triggered by the unqualified, unlicensed and unregistered “agents” Premier paid via secretive shell companies in the Caribbean to assist them in their exploits..
Next comes the knighthood?
A straightforward house burglary resulting in the loss of jewellery, or other items of material value, is an inconvenient but replaceable loss.
However when elderly persons suffer the loss of a lifetime’s prudent saving, accumulated for the purpose of safeguarding their final days, this calamity does not end with the loss of money (or home) but can develop into psychological and emotional turmoil with life changing consequences – triggering health problems and possibly premature death.
It was pensioner’s life savings which the directors of Premier (Isle of Man) Ltd, (or whatever company name they are using this week) sequestered by a variety of means, including misrepresentation of financial products, the misrepresentation of their cold-calling, “commission-only-salesmen” (paid via a secretive Caribbean tax havens) and the illegal presence of Premier’s company, personnel and products in Spain.
The police do (on occasions) manage to arrest house burglars… perhaps the police may now start to show interest in those who loot the lives of vulnerable, elderly people.
The Isle of Man registered Louis Group used the same complex and unregulated “experienced investor funds” claiming they were “low risk” when in reality they were “high risk”. And like the Premier Group they took out large bank loans to float their ineptly managed products/funds and eventually went bust to tune of £60 million.
Even PricewaterhouseCooper (not normally famous for candor) referred to the matter as having a: – “taint of illegality across the vast majority of businesses carried out by this group in the Isle of Man”.
But again the Isle of Man government regulators have (to date) failed to take action against those involved in running the Louis Group … although they have taken action against the Isle of Man-based professional, independent financial advisors (IFAs) who sold collapsed Louis Group “products” : ordering them to pay awards totalling £243,000 to victims who were miss-sold “investments” …
The IFAs claimed that “this is what the Louis Group said”. But the Isle of Man regulator shouted down this defence claiming that: – “you’re professionals; you should have known better and not relied on third party (Louis Group) advice”.’
And here rests the BIG difference between Premier Group and the Louis Group.
The Louis Group sold their inept products through properly registered, regulated and qualified, professional IFAs who were held responsible (rightly or wrongly) by the Isle of Man regulator and then it was they who were ordered to pay compensation totalling £243,000 to the victims of miss-sold Louis Group products.
But the Premier Group functioned in a completely different way, selling their products via their own “agents” who they recruited and paid via secretive shell companies registered in Caribbean tax havens. None of Premier’s “agents” were professional, independent, qualified, registered or regulated, so none of Premier’s “agents” could be described as “professional independent IFAs”.
Premier’s directors brazenly misrepresenting (in writing) their “agents” as “professional IFAs” when in fact they were unprofessional, incompetent, commission driven opportunists – not forgetting that both the Premier company and the Premier “agents” were working in Spain without a licence.
The Louis Group directors claimed that “God made us do it!”
The Premier Group directors have yet to announce “who made them do it.”
For much more information visit below and other internet sites: –
http://www.biznews.com/africa/2014/11/10/god-made-us-louis-group-property-syndicates-masterminds/
http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/financial-advisors-got-it-so-wrong-on-louis-group-1-6102166
You are totally correct in your comments Not Charlie Walton!No doubt like yourself we find ourselves in a situation,thanks to Premier,SLM Moore finance,in danger of losing the home we have worked all our lives for.
We would be very glad of any advice or contacts you can give us,not only to help us but that we,in turn,can help others.
Look forward to hearing from anyone who can point us in the right direction.
Gerard.
The Isle of Man registered Louis Group is a similar company who used “experienced investor funds” and claimed that complex high risk funds were “low risk”.
Like the Premier Group the Louis Group took out large bank loans to float their ineptly managed products/funds and eventually went bust to tune of £60 million. The liquidators accused the Louis Group of “highly improper” business activity and PricewaterhouseCooper referred to the matter as having a: – “taint of illegality across the vast majority of businesses carried out by this group in the Isle of Man”.
Like the Premier Group the Isle of Man government regulators have (to date) failed to take action against those involved in running the Louis Group … but it has taken action against the Isle of Man-based independent financial advisors (IFAs) who sold collapsed Louis Group “products”. They have been ordered to pay awards totalling £243,000 to victims miss-sold “investments” …
In their defence the IFAs claimed that “this is what the Louis Group said”. In response the Isle of Man regulator claimed that: – “you’re professionals; you should have known better and not relied on third party advice”.’ And here rests the BIG difference between Premier Group and the Louis Group.
The Louis Group sold their inept products through properly registered, regulated and qualified, professional IFAs who were held responsible (rightly or wrongly) by the Isle of Man regulator and ordered to pay awards totalling £243,000 for the misrepresentation of Louis Group products.
But the Premier Group functioned in a completely different way by selling their products via their own “agents” who they recruited and paid via secretive companies registered in Caribbean tax havens. None of Premier’s “agents” were independent, qualified, registered or regulated, so none of Premier’s “agents” could be described as “professional independent IFAs”.
But this did not prevent Premier’s directors from brazenly misrepresenting (in writing) their “agents” as “professional IFAs” when in fact they were unprofessional, incompetent, commission driven opportunists – and they and their employer were all working illegally in Spain.
The Louis Group directors claimed that “God made us do it!”
The Premier Group directors have yet to announce “who made them do it.”
For much more information visit below and other internet sites: –
http://www.biznews.com/africa/2014/11/10/god-made-us-louis-group-property-syndicates-masterminds/
http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/financial-advisors-got-it-so-wrong-on-louis-group-1-6102166
The Isle of Man registered Louis Group is a similar company who used “experienced investor funds” and claimed that complex high risk funds were “low risk”.
Like the Premier Group the Louis Group took out large bank loans to float their ineptly managed products/funds and eventually went bust to tune of £60 million. The liquidators accused the Louis Group of “highly improper” business activity and PricewaterhouseCooper referred to the matter as having a: – “taint of illegality across the vast majority of businesses carried out by this group in the Isle of Man”.
Like the Premier Group the Isle of Man government regulators have (to date) failed to take action against those involved in running the Louis Group … but it has taken action against the Isle of Man-based independent financial advisors (IFAs) who sold collapsed Louis Group “products”. They have been ordered to pay awards totalling £243,000 to victims miss-sold “investments” …
In their defence the IFAs claimed that “this is what the Louis Group said”. In response the Isle of Man regulator claimed that: – “you’re professionals; you should have known better and not relied on third party advice”.’ And here rests the BIG difference between Premier Group and the Louis Group.
The Louis Group sold their inept products through properly registered, regulated and qualified, professional IFAs who were held responsible (rightly or wrongly) by the Isle of Man regulator and ordered to pay awards totalling £243,000 for the misrepresentation of Louis Group products.
But the Premier Group functioned in a completely different way by selling their products via their own “agents” who they recruited and paid via secretive companies registered in Caribbean tax havens. None of Premier’s “agents” were independent, qualified, registered or regulated, so none of Premier’s “agents” could be described as “professional independent IFAs”.
But this did not prevent Premier’s directors from brazenly misrepresenting (in writing) their “agents” as “professional IFAs” when in fact they were unprofessional, incompetent, commission driven opportunists – and they and their employer were all working illegally in Spain.
The Louis Group directors claimed that “God made us do it!”
The Premier Group directors have yet to announce “who made them do it.”
For much more information visit below and other internet sites: –
http://www.biznews.com/africa/2014/11/10/god-made-us-louis-group-property-syndicates-masterminds/
http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/financial-advisors-got-it-so-wrong-on-louis-group-1-6102166