Ex-clients of Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd should avoid London Commodity Exchange plc

 

Mailbox Rental:
Jain Harsh address: Suite 444, 19-21 Crawford Street, London W1H 1PJ

Recently I was contacted by RT, a former client of Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd, who had been cold called by Jonathan Church of the London Commodity Exchange claiming to be able to recover wines he had bought through BFW that were now held overseas.

RT was rightly suspicious of Mr Church and the London Commodity Exchange. These suspicions have been confirmed by Grant Thornton's David Ingram, the liquidator of Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd. Ingram informs me that there are no unaccounted BFW stocks of wines:

'We have undertaken a comprehensive forensic exercise on the little wine that was actually purchased by Bordeaux Fine Wines and are satisfied that it has been accounted for.  There is certainly no stocks of wine overseas.' 

David Ingram's email is below.

London Commodity Exchange plc is one of Jain Harsh's companies. Harsh was born in January 1979. His correspondence address is Suite 444, 19-21 Crawford Street, London W1H 1PJ. He is director of multiple companies (at least 25 – mainly dormant) with an apparently share capital of at least £2,222,001,002 – 15 companies checked to date. If cold called by London Commodity Exchange or other similar company spinning the same tale, my very strong advice is to put the phone down. 

 

Email from RT:

Dear Jim,

I would be grateful if you could read the email below and let me have your opinion.

As background I was an investor in Bordeaux Fine Wines and am now awaiting the completion of the liquidation process.

I was contacted this afternoon (cold called) by Jonathan Church who explained that his company (London Commodity Exchange) was supported by the government and that they were investigating the existence of wine purchased by the director and managers of Bordeaux Fine Wines, in the name of investors, and then stored overseas in the joint names of BFW and the investor.

He claimed that they had recovered wine for 28/29 investors and subsequently disposed of it on their behalf.  He offered to investigate the existence of wine held overseas in my name and then to obtain a valuation prior to selling it.  As yet I have no knowledge of the business arrangements they would propose.

He made great play about the liquidator not being interested in finding these deposits of wine but unfortunately I cannot remember the logic behind this assertion.

Before they could start work I would have to provide them with a list of the wine I purchased from BFW that had not been deposited in my bonded warehouse account.

I found the company on the internet (http://londoncommodityexchange.com/) and they appear to be a futures trading organisation.  There was no reference to dealing in wine.

Personally I have never heard of London Commodity Exchange and I am worried that this is yet another scam.  I would appreciate any comments you may have.  If this does prove to be a scam it would be appreciated if you would make more people aware via your web site.

Best regards,

RT

••

  
Email from Jonathan Church, London Commodity Exchange 

From: admin admin [mailto:admin@londoncommodityexchange.co.uk]
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2016 3:44 PM
To: RT
Subject: London Commodity Exchange

 

Dear Mr RT,

Further to your conversation with one of our marketing advisors, we are writing to you to inform you of the updates regarding the particular investment you acquired through the liquidated company in question.

After researching our systems it has become apparent that you have had difficulty in selling your assets and have not had an accurate valuation of them in some time.

We would like to make you aware that although the company/s you’ve dealt with have had mismanagement problems throughout their organisation, it does not mean that the assets you acquired through them are unsuitable for your portfolio it just means that they haven’t been managed correctly.

When commodity companies in the UK go into certain forms of difficulty it is our duty to ensure we can put the clientele of those organisations in a position where they can sell their assets in a safe, secure and reliable manner.

Through the research which was carried out by our advisors it has come to our attention that your portfolio hasn’t been marketed, and it’s imperative that this process is fully exercised.

Unfortunately it seems that the companies you dealt with never informed you of the sale process and as a consequence this has left your portfolio stagnant for some time.

As promised by our consultants, your portfolio will be accurately valued (once information has been provided) by an independent source. Where they would take market conditions into consideration to shed light on the overall value of your assets.

We would like to make you aware that the valuations are extremely important. However, they are meaningless unless there is a third party buyer who is interested in purchasing the portfolio.

Once our advisors have informed you of the valuations, they would then elaborate on the sale process and how to conclude business in a way that would suit you.

We strive to deliver excellence in every part of our business and welcome any feedback that will enable us to do this.

Let us take this opportunity to congratulate you on taking affirmative steps to closing the chapter on this part of your portfolio.

If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0203 627 7833    

 

 

Best Regards,

 

Jonathan Church
Administration and Compliance Team
London Commodity Exchange Plc.
 
Telephone: 020 3267 7833
Email: admin@londoncommodityexchange.co.uk


Disclaimer:
Everything in this email and any attachments relating to the official business of London Commodity Exchange Plc. and any or all subsidiaries ("the Company") is proprietary to the Company. It is confidential, legally privileged and protected by relevant laws. The Company does not own and endorse any other content. Views and opinions are those of the sender unless clearly stated as being that of the Company.

The person or persons addressed in this email are the sole authorized recipient. Please notify the sender immediately if it has unintentionally or inadvertently reached you and do not read, disclose or use the content in any way and delete this e-mail from your system.

The Company cannot ensure that the integrity of this email has been maintained nor that it is free of errors, virus, interception or interference. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. This message is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments.

••

Response from David Ingram, Liquidator of Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd, Grant Thornton 

We have also spoken to a couple of investors who have also been contacted by this outfit.  I quickly concluded that London Commodity Exchange is, as you state, another fraudulent enterprise trying to perpetrate an advance fee fraud on existing victims.  I strongly recommended to the creditors of BFW whom I spoke to that they should have nothing to do with London Commodity exchange and should definitely not pay them anything.

 

We have undertaken a comprehensive forensic exercise on the little wine that was actually purchased by Bordeaux Fine Wines and are satisfied that it has been accounted for.  There is certainly no stocks of wine overseas.

 

Please do emphasise this message on your website