Worldwide Wine Investments Ltd: three arrested + watch out for white knights!

 Watch out for white knights – 

determined to never give a sucker an even break!

Notice from the Police to clients of Worldwide Wine Investments Ltd:

'On 23rd October 2013, three people were arrested by officers investigating Worldwide Wine Investments (Operation Dinghy).

The arrested persons were a 22-year-old man, a 23-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man all from Essex who were held at two addresses on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

They have all been released on bail (one to December 2013 and two to February 2014) pending further enquiries.

The investigation is ongoing and we will continue to provide significant updates.

In the meantime we have become aware of further wine companies who have been contacting investors and you should be very cautious if you receive calls from any companies offering you investment opportunities.

Two of these companies, Spencer & Elstein and Murdoch & Chase are currently being investigated by the City of London trading standards department.*

You are advised to contact the City of London trading standards department if you have any concerns.

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/business/support-promotion-and-advice/trading-standards/Pages/default.aspx

Telephone - 020 7332 3406'

**

The sole director of Worldwide Wine Investments Ltd (established  29th March 2007 and based in Milton Keynes) at the time it ceased trading was 47-year-old David Nicol. The investigation by Thames Valley Police has been running for over a year now.

* Spencer & Elstein Ltd was set up on 23rd January 2013. Its address is Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1HN – a serviced office/ accommodation address. The sole director is 24-year-old Aaron Sandford. They have a glossy but vacuous website. Under investigation by City of London Trading Standards.  

* Murdoch & Chase is not a UK limited company. Does have a glossy but uninformative website  (full of vacuous puffery but no meat) – no mention of who is involved in the organisation etc.. Website was registered on 29th May 2013. Funnily enough Murdoch & Chase Asset Management is also based at Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1HN. They claim to be experts in 'stagnant asset release'! Under investigation by City of London Trading Standards.

I certainly would not consider buying or selling wine through either Spencer & Elstein Ltd or Murdoch & Chase. Although it is romantic to be rescued by a white knight, beware the chivalrous stranger may turn out to have feet of clay. You might also wonder how they got hold of your details, so as to be able to contact you – who passed on your details? 

Another company has contacted clients of Worldwide Wine Investments Ltd – Turner-Belgarde Ltd, which was founded on 13th June 2013). Its contact address on the website is given as Glen House, 125 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3RP. These are serviced/virtual offices. The registered office is 113 Winnipeg Way, Canada Fields, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, EN10 6FH with 41-year-old Stephen Turner as the sole director. Although founded just five months ago, Turner-Belgarde Ltd claims to be 'a specialist fine wine wholesaler'.

Going by their laughably wrong advice (from their website – registered on 29th August 2013) on how wine is not subject to Capital Gains Tax, I would certainly not rely on their expertise!

Turner-Belgarde: 'So providing wine is not held for more than 50 years, it is an investment completely exempt from Capital Gains Tax, meaning you retain all your profits' – premier cru nonsense!!

More gold-plated nonsense from Turner-Belgarde Ltd (above): 

'Thanks to the worldwide interest in fine wines, a ready market awaits and thankfully it's one that's not susceptible to the normal fluctuations experienced by interest rates and stock markets'

Clearly Turner-Belgarde Ltd is not aware of the Liv-ex 100: 

31.10.2008: Liv-ex 100 was @ 216

30.6.2011  : Liv-ex 100 was @ 365

31.10.2013: Liv-ex 100 was @ 265 

Looks to me like a very definite fluctuation – don't you agree Stephen Turner? 

Claim of a 'global network': 

 

'When you are ready to sell, Turner-Belgarde global network of private and trade buyers will secure the best price available in the market. We have all the right connections in place to make a swift and safe settlement.'

So Stephen Turner: are we talking Facebook friends here? Your five month old company (share capital all of £1) already has a global network of private and trade buyers!! Congratulations! if true – if not this is utter bollocks (a technical term' yet another wallet-thinning scam. 

The company also claims to have an account at London City Bond. This is untrue – the company does not have an account at LCB, who have never heard of Turner-Belgarde Ltd. 

I shall also steer clear of Turner-Belgarde Ltd.