Diamonds can be for never – don't be duped!

Diamonds aren't necessarily an investor's best friend!

'Fraudsters used 'sucker list' to sell fake diamonds to victims with marks-ups of 2,800 per cent to fund luxury lifestyle in Marbella

• Gems dealers made £1 million duping investors into buying diamonds

• All the gems had been purchased out of a mainstream diamond catalogue

• Gang, due to be sentenced next week, added mark-ups of up to 2,800%

• One retired victim used his life-savings to buy gems for £140,000 but they were only worth £10,000'

Report in the Daily Mail of recent fraud trial at The Old Bailey involving diamonds with fraudsters now facing jail while investors have lost life savings. Sentencing on 27th September. Read rest here.  

See also report in Eastbourne Herald. 

Wine investment scams often linked to offers of 'investments' in diamonds, biofuels, carbon credits, plots of agricultural land on promise of rezoning etc. 

Also beware of companies, like Ethical Elegance Ltd, offering to swop assets such as wines for coloured diamonds.

Wine Investment Association: three memberships pending

 WIA: the four founder members: L-R; Adrian Lenagan (Provenance Fine Wines Ltd - pending),

David Jackson (Albany Portfolio Management Ltd – now: Amphora Portfolio Management- pending), 

Hugo Rose MW (Culver Street Ltd), Peter Shakeshaft (Vin-X Ltd)

'Hi Jim, three of the four companies involved in the Wine Investment Association are still being listed as membership being "Pending". Meaning they haven't yet completed the audit that is required to become members. As the association went live in February, and it is now August, could the chairman of the Association, Hugo Rose, please give your readers an update? Have the audits taken place, and if not, why not? As these companies are no-doubt benefiting from their perceived membership, yet seem not to have taken - or passed - the key test for membership, this is a question I'm sure a lot of people would want answered.'

Hugo Rose MW: chairman of WIA

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Update: 27th August 2013 – now we are two:

Provenance Fine Wines Ltd have recently become accredited bringing full membership of the WIA to two. 

Update: 19th October 2013 – now we are three:
Culver Street Ltd have recently become accredited bringing full membership of the WIA to three. 

Update: 17th March 2015 – now we are still three
Amphora Portfolio Management became an accredited member of the WIA during 2014. However, Vin-X Ltd has become the parent company of Provenance Fine Wines Ltd as it holds 100% of the £100 share capital and Peter Shakeshaft was appointed as a director of the company on 1st June 2014. Adrian Lenagan remains a director.   
    

The London Vines Ltd: update on Barry Gamble and Robert Phillips

 James Morrison's appointments 

It would appear that 42-year-old Robert Phillips, the sole current director of The London Vines Ltd, may bear a remarkable resemblance to James Morrison, who was a director of Henry Talbot Ltd – closed in the public interest in 2003. Morrison was also company secretary of wine investment company James Hewitt Associates Ltd, which was closed in the public interest in October 2002. James Hewitt Associates Ltd was run by Andrew Dunne, now resident in Northern Cyprus.   

Barry Gamble and Robert Phillips also worked at Countrywide Land, a land banking company. Andrew Dunne was reportedly the ringleader of this £35 million fraud. Gamble says that he worked for Countrywide for about a year. He was aware of Andrew Dunne being involved in the company, but that Dunne was never at any time his manager and he had no association with him. 

Dunne is now understood to be in Northern Cyprus. In addition to Countrywide Land He was involved in a long list of scam companies including Ransby Hoare Associates Ltd, Liquid Acquisitions Ltd, James Hewitt Associates Ltd, Bordeaux UK Ltd (all wine investments) and Paramount Land UK and Consolidated Land UK (both land banking).

investdrinks has been contacted by several clients of The London Vines Ltd, who are concerned about their investments. They have been urged to file complaints through Action Fraud. 

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Capital Bordeaux Investments Ltd may also have disappeared. Annual return is overdue since 22.5.2013 and phone calls are put through to a mailbox.