Tag archives for THE PREMIER GROUP (ISLE OF MAN) LIMITED

Bilbao Court Issues Broad Enforcement Proceedings Against Surrenda Link Mortgage Funding

Iberdrola y ACS se enfrentarán a partir del 18 de enero en un juicio en Bilbao

Court of First Instance 11 in Bilbao has accepted a motion by claimants to enforce proceedings against SLM and ordered the following:

  • The freezing of assets owned by SLM to cover as much as 6,262,574 Euros, plus legal interest.
  • The cancellation of mortgages registered in favour of SLM on the properties owed by the claimants, by ordering the Land Registries of Alora, Mijas, Javea, San Roque, Estepona, Coin, Velez-Malaga and Marbella to remove same.
  • The annotation of the Court ruling in the indicated land registries.

This groundbreaking Equity Release ruling applies in full art. 1306 of the Civil Code (reserved for serious law breaches and violations of public order) and orders the defendant SLM to not only suffer losing the rights of a registered mortgage but, in addition, to pay the claimants the loan that was withheld to invest with Premier Group Isle of Man (now in liquidation).

SLM does not have the right to appeal but can oppose this decision, within 5 days.

The above decisions are adopted provisionally, pending the outcome of the appeal process. As with most rulings, claimants are by law entitled to enjoy the result of a favourable ruling on the understanding that, should the ruling be reversed on appeal, the successful appellant may request a restitution of the gains received.

Currently, only 20% of rulings are overturned by Appeal Courts.

The Lies of The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited Uncovered

The previous post published on ERVA explains that Michael Richardson, founder of the above 2 companies, does not hide the fact his 2007 company -The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited- is the successor of the BVI-based Premier Balanced Distribution Inc.

But now, the Financial Supervision Commission has confirmed that not only did one take over from the other but that they are, in essence, the same firm.

An FSC officer has confirmed, unofficially, the following:

  1. The BVI company’s website was www.thepremiergroup.biz, the same as the 2007 company.
  2. The email address info@thepremiergroup.biz, used by the previous company, is currently in use by the 2007 company.
  3. Until December 2007, the 2007 company used the BVI company’s telephone and fax numbers: +44 (0) 1624 838110 y Fax and 44 (0) 1624 836785.
  4. The 2007 company used the green BVI company logo/branding (above) on its website until…May 2010: that’s 3 years after it was incorporated. This is the logo used in the 2004 promotional literature that CAINS says “has nothing to do with its client”.
  5. The Daily Telegraph, among others, confirmed in 2005 that The Premier Group was based in…the Isle of Man.

For CAINS Advocates though they are two totally separate companies with no connection whatsoever, according to their “independent” report filed with the Bilbao Courts. CAINS says the following in its report:

Nothwithstanding that Cains acts as Isle of Man legal adviser to the The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited, we shall act objectively and our statements shall take into account all circumstances which may prove to be favourable as well as those that may cause harm to any of the parties of the proceedings previously stated.

CAINS is employed by the 2007 The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited and were also the appointed counsel for the BVI company and they therefore should and could have known that their statement is at best inaccurate and misleading and at worst, fraudulent.

This breach constitutes serious professional misconduct and failure to comply with the principles, rules and regulations of the legal profession in the Isle of Man.

The Premier Group Isle of Man Files Response to Equity Release Action

The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited has formally responded to Court papers filed by Equity Release Victims against this company and SLMB, their lenders.

The main allegations contained in the writ reveal a great deal of anxiety and worry, consistent with a very significant claim value of circa 6 million Euros.

In their defense, The Premier Group has avoided alluding to inheritance tax, lack of regulatory authorization to operate in Spain and financial miselling. Their main argument, aided by a partisan “independent” report drafted by their Isle of Man lawyers, CAINS, is that The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited was incorporated in July 2007 and therefore, could have never had anything to do with the SITIRS (Spanish Inheritance Tax and Income Release Scheme) which, according to their independent lawyers, was devised and promoted by ‘another’ company called “Premier Balanced Distribution Inc”, based in British Virgin Islands, a revelation that logically exonerates them from any responsibility and thus…case closed!

Such is the confidence of The Premier Group’s Spanish counsel that they liberally dub lawyers acting for the claimants as clumsy and inept, considering the magnitude and implications of this gross oversight.

What these lawyers have not realized is that Mr. Michael Richardson (photo), the mastermind of this illicit tax-evasion mechanism, boasts the following on his website:

In 2001 founded the forerunner fund group that became Premier and has been actively engaged in the design and management of many offshore funds.

The extent of this legal bungle is corroborated by yet further admission that they are, in essence, the same company:

The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited (“Premier”) is the successor of a fund group established in 2001 and is responsible for designing, distributing and managing a range of investment funds to investment intermediaries and financial institutions throughout the UK and international markets.

Further evidence that supports that both companies are the same will be produced in Court and, where appropriate, divulged in this website.

As for SLMH, they have not yet filed their defense papers that we are aware of.

Claim against SL MORTGAGE FUNDING N 1 LIMITED and THE PREMIER GROUP (ISLE OF MAN) LIMITED

ERVA can announce that the claim against SL MORTGAGE FUNDING N 1 LIMITED and THE PREMIER GROUP (ISLE OF MAN) LIMITED -on behalf of 14 claimants- will be filed on Friday 4th of April 2014.

The claim is based on the following grounds:

  • Neither company were regulated to operate in Spain. The company SL MORTGAGE FUNDING N 1 LIMITED actually admitted this was the case as if to avoid the application of Spanish mandatory provisions by attempting, in the opinion of the acting lawyers, to equate the validity of this undertaking to a type of “limitation of liability clause”.
  • Both companies openly admitted that the main purpose of the product, sold with the name “SITIRS” (Spanish Inheritance Tax and Income Release Scheme or Spanish Investment Transfer and Income Release Scheme), was to reduce or mitigate Spanish Inheritance Taxes.
  • Both companies confirmed that they had received the ‘blessing’ of top law firms, ERNST & YOUNG and URIA & MENENDEZ, none of which will admit to this.
  • Both companies concocted a plan to have the products signed in Bilbao through local ‘friendly’ lawyers, Rocco Caira and Javier Bicarregui, both paid generously to sanction a bogus transaction made possible by the teaming up of a group of unscrupulous financial operators.
  • Neither company allowed customers the slightest bit of information that explained the real predatory nature of the investments where the mortgage loans were invested. This was a natural consequence of not having offered the obligatory prospectus, under Spanish laws.
  • Both companies shared directors, a clear indication of their togertheness in the devising of this illegal scheme.
It is still undecided whether the claim will be filed against BNP Paribas Trust Company (IOM) LIMITED and Royal Bank of Scotland (IOM) LIMITED, Custodians of the invested moneys in different times, unregulated in Spain to provide such service pursuant to the Collective Investment Scheme Act and equally responsible of permitting the engineering of a fraudulent illicit financial product for Spain, the SITIRS.
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