Twelve By Seventy Five Limited – exchange DRC for an unsaleable investment

Twelve By Seventy Five Ltd, now run by sole director Sultan Rashid, pride themselves on their expertise:  

 'We ensure your portfolio is expertly and reliably managed for the best results and keep in touch with you through portfolio valuations and market forecasts.'

'We provide unique and personal advice on how to make a good financial return within this market.'  

 'We ensure your portfolio is expertly 

and reliably managed for the best results'

For whom, please?

'Perfect wine portfolio?'

Sell us your DRC and we will give 

you a dead duck wine investment 

A good financial return? For whom I have to wonder ...... having been contacted by BV, whose father was persuaded to exchange his portfolio of DRC wines for variants of “Excellence de Belliard” wines, which have proved be a dead duck investment – what a surprise!

 From the Twelve By Seventy Five website 

DRC 2002 cited but curiously no mention of Excellence de Belliard 

Sultan Rashid's Linkedin profile

'My companies goal is to create a straight forward, transparent, personally tailored to the client Wine Investment Brokerage. After working my way up to Senior broker at a previous company I saw a gap in the market. This gap in the market is a wine investment company that solely has the clients best interests as number one priority. This is the future of wine investment.

My passion is inventing new, more innovative ways for people that are new or familiar to the industry to get the best understanding and profits from there investments, with a broker they can trust and rely on to have there (sic) best interest as paramount.

Open letter to Mr Sultan Rashid, Director, Twelve By Seventy Five Limited from BV:

Without Prejudice, save as to costs

I set out below my family’s experience of investing through Twelve By Seventy Five Limited (TBSF). All statements of fact can be evidenced.  

Background

In early 2014 my (now late) father held significant holdings of DRC and other well-known investment grade wines.

At this time, he was contacted by Mr Riccardo De’Nardis, a co-director, along with yourself, of newly formed wine brokerage, Twelve By Seventy Five Limited (TBSF). 

Mr De’Nardis had been involved in the sale of the DRC portfolio to my father (in his previous role at Capital Vintners) and used this former contact to introduce my father to TBSF.

During the next three years my father was advised by, and traded through, TBSF. This led to his existing portfolio being systematically sold to TBSF and reinvested (primarily) in variants of “Excellence de Belliard” wines, purchased from TBSF, at an invoiced value amounting to some £390,000.

These wines have proved to be basically unsaleable:

• No other broker I have offered them to has been remotely interested in making any offer for them.
• One broker informed me they were “about as illiquid as it is possible to be” in terms of investment.
• TBSF has had two failed attempts to sell small tranches of the portfolio, once before my father’s death and once subsequent to it.  

• TBSF have not been able to recommend any other credible disposal route.

This is despite my father being led to believe that the investments were to be short term in nature; to quote a member of your staff, “flipped” for a quick profit.  In light of these facts I can only conclude that TBSF either offered catastrophically bad (negligent) advice to my father, or deliberately set out to defraud him.  

Recovery To date

Subsequent to my father’s death in February 2017 I reconciled all the transactions he had made with TBSF to both bank statements and to the wines present in his warehouse accounts.

This exercise identified a number of “administrative anomalies”, which led (over time) to the recovery of £32,000 from TBSF. 

Subsequent to this, TBSF agreed to help sell the portfolio off.  However, this did not go well and in Summer 2017 I finally lost patience with TBSF’s increasingly implausible excuses for failing to sell a small tranche of the Belliard portfolio. I therefore formally confronted Mr De’Nardis with my conclusion that the value of the wines had been significantly misrepresented to my father by TBSF (either fraudulently or negligently).

After prolonged exchanges, during which Mr De’Nardis left TBSF suddenly and handed over to you, we eventually reached a “settlement agreement” during Summer 2017, involving the return of the wines to TBSF for a payment of £275,000 spread over two years.  However, you ultimately refused to sign it, claiming to have problems with your business and personal banking arrangements.

Subsequent to this we have managed to agree two additional payments, against threats of a court process being initiated, amounting to £28,000.  This leaves our outstanding claim at £330,000.

Current Situation

TBSF’s accounts to January 2017 show that the two directors at that time, Mr De’Nardis and yourself, were able to take £657,000 in directors’ loans from the business.  The business does not have significant capital, nor any borrowings, so this implies some profitable and highly cash generative trading has taken place.  No direct link to your dealings with my father can be proved from the information available, but I set out below an example of one en-primeur deal TBSF did with him, for which the wines landed in his warehouse account in March this year:

10 cases of L'EXCELLENCE DE BELLIARD PAUILLAC 2015 12X75CL (en primeur) :

Stated in-bond value           £ 10,000

Invoiced value                    £ 21,000

Uplift                                 £ 11,000

The sales invoice does not disclose any such uplift, but I assume that this is your “margin” on what is basically a risk-free transaction for your business.

Subsequent to Mr De’Nardis’ departure, you are now the sole director.  You no longer mention banking issues but continue to claim to be unable to offer any kind of immediate settlement (despite the money potentially available from the repayment of the directors’ loans).  You recently indicated willingness to sign a new settlement agreement but then refused to respond when sent a draft for signature.  In the meantime, it appears that TBSF is changing focus, to work on new ventures, namely “The Wine Drinker” and “Two Thirsty Bulldogs”, and your responses to my emails are often long delayed and incomplete.

This has now been going on for well over a year and needs to be resolved, one way or another.  I have therefore given up on privately discussing this matter with you.  This letter is the first step in a series of escalations I plan to make to bring this issue to a conclusion.  However, I remain open to constructive proposals in relation to how this might be achieved

Yours sincerely

(name withheld to protect my father’s identity)

June 2018

••• 

My view:

What appalling account of an elderly man being misled – either because Twelve by Seventy Five run then by Sultan Rashid and Riccardo De’Nardis had no idea about wine investment despite their claims of expertise or they set out to relieve BV's father of his DRC wines, that are certainly of investment potential, and replace them with variants of “Excellence de Belliard”, which nobody wants to buy. So either gross incompetence or very sharp practice at best.

investdrinks is aware that another client of Twelve By Seventy Five has made a complaint to Action Fraud. I understand that this client, an elderly woman – is this a coincidence or do Twelve-By-Seventy-Five Ltd target the elderly – is down by around £100K on wine that is owed to her. Just two clients are owed £430,000 by Rashid's Twelve-By-Seventy-Five Ltd.

Sultan Rashid has two new ventures* (The Wine Drinker and Two Thirsty Bulldogs), to which I will certainly be giving a very wide berth: 

 His ex-partner Riccardo De’Nardis set up a new company – Dens Global Ltd – on 12th July 2017. I will also be avoiding this company. 

'deformation of character'
* Sultan Rashid objects to the mention of his two new ventures and has threatened me with legal action if news of Rashid's new ventures are no removed from this post:

'You are right with me taking over the company and many changes have taken place since me doing so. The fact you mention my two new companies is deformation of character and I ask for you to remove this ASAP, otherwise I will have no choice to get my lawyers involved and sue you for this. Like i mentioned I have no issue with you mentioned TBSV, due to this situation being directly affiliated with this company. 

If this The wine drinker and Two thirsty bulldogs are not removed from your blog within 24 hours I will have no other option than to take action.' 

Extract of email sent by Sultan Rashid on 26.6.2018 @11.35

I have asked Rashid how mention of two companies that he has formed through UK Companies House and cited on his company's website and emails is 'deformation (defamation) of character'. I await Rashid's reply with interest.    

 

Update: 13th March 2019
Now in compulsory liquidation following petition in the High Court, London 

Further details to be added.

 

The Insolvency Service: another way to complain@active companies

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Get a suspicious cold call from a company offering investments in wine or to buy your wine or else offering carbon credits, diamonds, gold, land graphene etc? Then you can file a complaint with the Insolvency Service Hot-Line as well as through Action Fraud. It may well pay to complain to two separate Government organisations.

Then as well as filing a complaint with Action Fraud you can also file a complaint against companies that are still trading through The Insolvency Service’s Hot Line: 0845 601 3546 or intelligence.live@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk. This can lead to the company being investigating and, if found to be a threat to the public, it can be closed down and may lead to a criminal investigation and a trial as it did in the case of Nouveau World Wines and Finbow. 

Details here:  

If your complaint involves the conduct of a company or its officers you should contact the Insolvency Service.

The Insolvency Service is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Company Investigations team within the Insolvency Service has the power to investigate limited companies where information received suggests corporate abuse; this may include serious misconduct, fraud, scams or sharp practice in the way a company operates.

To complain about a limited company that is still trading:

Telephone: 0845 601 3546
Email: intelligence.live@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

Address:
Intelligence Hub
Intelligence & Enforcement Directorate
Investigation and Enforcement Services
Insolvency Service
3rd Floor Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham B4 6FD

Select Bordeaux Ltd – dirty white knight

Watch out for white knights!

An sadly expensive cautionary tale!
Select Bordeaux Ltd was set up 28th October 2009. Since 28th January 2012 the sole director has been 29-year-old Salman Rahman. The investor (UJ) tells how they were contacted by Select Bordeaux offering to sell wine they had bought from Vinance plc, now in liquidation. They agreed to sell some of their wine (£40,000) through Select Bordeaux Ltd. Unfortunately it appears that Salman Rahman's Select Bordeaux Ltd has taken UJ's wine and failed to fulfil their part of the bargain by not passing on the money from the agreed sale.

The accounts (since 31.12.2013) and the annual return (25.11.13) for Select Bordeaux Ltd are both overdue. Their registered office and trading address – 6th Floor, International House, 223 Regent Street, London W1B 2QD is a well known accommodation and virtual office address. 

Anyone else having problems with Select Bordeaux Ltd should file a complaint through Action Fraud.  

This looks to be a classic white knight tale. If contacted by a company offering to help out following another company disappearing or going into liquidation, do not fall for their speil no matter how convincing it may be. White knights should be treated as bad news. They have probably got your details through buying or acquiring a sucker list.  

UJ's story:  

'Thank you for responding to my email.

We originally had our wine invested with a company called Vinance, and as you are aware, they went into liquidation.  We had already paid in advance for en primeur wines (were they ever bought by Vinance?), which didn't appear and lost a lot of money but at least the majority of the wine was returned and subsequently stored with Albany Vintners.

We were cold called by Select Bordeaux where of course we initially were not interested. They persisted and we did speak at length to them of our anxieties and for every problem we raised they seemed to have an answer.  We asked for the pitfalls should the wine not be sold, how it would be returned etc and of course they had a plausible response.

They initially gave us a valuation for all of our wine and it did seem very reasonable. We decided on hindsight to only sell half of it and this was duly arranged.  We signed the agreement and paid Arc to deliver it to Vinotheque.

The arrangement was for the purchaser to send through the payment to them, this would be cleared, and funds deposited into our bank account.

After waiting a while we received an email to clarify that the purchaser was unable to send through the payment and the deal had fallen through. They suggested trying again by sending this out onto the market or we could have our wine back. This we decided to do and as instructed,  confirmed in writing and sent our letter first class, to their office stating that our wine should stay in Vinotheque's warehouse but put into the Albany Vintners account.

Now the fun begins.

Started ringing after a few days and only got as far as the lady that answers the phone who always said that the lines were busy and would arrange to get someone to call me back. Didn't ever happen.

We constantly rang - daily - by this time. The lady probably had our number on her screen so always knew who it was and what to say.  She eventually said that someone had been looking for our letter and it hadn't arrived and to wait until after Christmas whereupon they would start back in the office on the 6th January.

Again, we rang and again we couldn't speak to anyone. I emailed our contact Johnathan Lee (he had previously emailed to say that he would be away from the office and to speak to David Saunders). We had never spoken to this character and again, we still haven't.

I rang Select again and asked outright if the Company was still trading and she said the Director was in - all the staff were off with colds - he was extremely busy and would get back to me.  Ha ha!

I have tried to ring the number given to me by Johnathan Lee and this was answered by a different lady who confirmed that the Company had gone.  I tried the number listed on the website that we always ring and that now was a dead line.

I then began to feel particularly uneasy about things and contacted Vinotheque*.  They were very helpful but wouldn't be able to give me any information as the Select Bordeaux account was still 'live'.  They suggested I email them with our details and they would pass this onto their Director David Hogg.
 
I rang again at the beginning of this week and spoke with him.  After a lengthy conversation, they confirmed that the wine that was delivered into their warehouse on the 4th November 2013 had in fact gone straight out and was sold on the 7th November 2013, resulting in a total loss of £40,000 of our wine.  He did confirm that the company is under investigation and to contact the Police.

This we did who directed us to Action Fraud and I completed an online form.

So, this is how we have been left. Feeling particularly gullible and extremely stupid.

I hope you can warn others.'

••

*NB: Vinotheque is the private reserve section of London City Bond, one of the UK's largest bonded warehouse and regulated by HMRC. Apart from providing storage it has no other connection with Select Bordeaux Ltd.  

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. 

*** 

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.

Good news: Action Fraud is working

I had a meeting last Friday with a couple of members of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. They reported on how well Action Fraud is working. They were very pleased with the leads and sometimes unexpected links this new system is now providing.

So it is very important that if you have concerns about your wine investments or about a wine investment company you should submit a complaint through Action Fraud.

Beaumont Vintners Ltd: Police advice – contact action fraud

Police advice is that anyone who has made an investment with Beaumont Vintners Ltd should make a referral to Action Fraud, who have been notified by the Police to expect more reports to follow. As they are reported the national fraud desk will start to assess the reports and make a decision about who it should be referred to for investigation if that is the decision they reach. If there is to be an investigation, Action Fraud will be able to assess which police force/agency will be best placed to investigate. So it is very important to file a report on Beaumont Vintners Ltd with Action Fraud rather than a police force.     

WSTA (Wine & Spirit Trade Association) launches wine investment guide

WSTA launches new wine investment guide 

The WSTA has launched a guide to help the growing number of consumers who are investing in fine wine, either as collectors or as part of an investment portfolio.  The guide aims to help wine buyers make the right checks before they part with their money.

Recent years have seen a growth in fine wine purchase but the potentially attractive returns have also sadly attracted some fraudsters, particularly in relation to en primeur - wines available for purchase prior to bottling and release onto the market.

The WSTA guide, available online at http://www.investinginfinewines.co.uk/, provides tips to help consumers ensure they don't become victims of fraud.  They include:

"    Choose a reputable wine merchant, checking their trading history, track record and address
"    Verify your order by comparing prices, checking provenance, condition of storage, packaging and delivery. Remember, reliable en primeur traders don't sell before producers have announced their prices
"    Look after your investment, ensuring wine is securely stored in the right conditions and fully covered by insurance
"    Understand the small print, including tax on investment, commission and handling fees and the paperwork you'll receive covering your purchase

The WSTA cautions consumers to be wary of any businesses using hard-sell tactics such as offering guaranteed profits or fast returns.  Fine wine should be seen as a medium to long term investment and as with all investments the value can go down as well as up.

Anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of fraud when buying fine wine should contact the WSTA Fraud Prevention Unit  fraudalert@wsta.co.uk or report it to Action Fraud http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/report_fraud.

WSTA Chief Executive Jeremy Beadles said:

"Buying fine wine is a pleasure and can be a profitable one but as with any type of investment it makes sense to take some precautions before you part with your cash.

"Our website guide provides some simple tips to follow to ensure you don't get caught out. Making some basic checks about the company you're dealing with and its track record is a good place to start."

Finbow Wines: SIFMA warning

I understand that Michael Adams and Frank Benson are continuing to contact previous clients of Finbow Wines and offering them deals to assist them recover money invested in Finbow. Apparently one elderly Finbow investor has been stung for a further £15,000 by people claiming to act for SIFMA.  It is clear that Adams, Benson etc. have full details of Finbow's clients. I understand that SIFMA (The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) are not involved in any way. 

If contacted by Michael Adams, Frank Benson or anyone else purporting to represent SIFMA do not agree to their proposals, which are likely to involve further payments to recover Finbow monies. Instead report full details to both your local police, informing them that Finbow Wines is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police and also to file a report on Action Fraud (www.actionfraud.org.uk). 

 

Action Fraud – now there is a national centre to report fraud

Good news: the police are now rolling out a national centre for reporting fraud. Not only will you no longer have to report a fraud to your local police who are unlikely to have the expertise or the time to deal fully with your complaint but it will also help the police to build up a national picture of the scope of particular frauds. 

It is clear from recent meetings with both the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police that both forces are very keen to get more detailed information, so that they can get a clearer picture about the extent of fraud. Both forces are concerned about the apparent rise of wine investment fraud. 

If you live outside the UK and have a complaint about a UK company this can also be made through Action Fraud. There will be a translation service.

The site also gives advice on how to avoid being defrauded and news on the latest frauds.


If you have a genuine complaint about a wine investment company I urge you to use this new service.

**

Extracts from the new site:    

Action Fraud is the new place for you to find out about fraud.

Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. If you’ve been scammed, ripped off or conned, there is something you can do about it. Speak to us.

If online shopping fraud has cost you money, call us now. If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, please get in touch. We can beat fraud if we talk.

Early recognition of fraud can be vital, so no matter whether you think you’ve been a victim of fraud or you just want to know how to protect yourself, this is the place to start.

Action Fraud is a central point of contact to call and get help if you’ve been a victim of fraud.'

Call 0300 123 2040  or you can submit a report on-line through the Action Fraud site.

Call centre opening hours: 

Monday to Friday: 8am to 8pm

Saturday: 9am to 4pm

Sunday: 10 am to 4 pm

Call 0300 123 2040

'Welcome to the Action Fraud reporting form

How your report will be used

 The Action Fraud service is a new service for UK citizens. Its aim is to make the process of reporting fraud easier. By reporting a fraud, you are giving anti-fraud agencies vital information that they need to protect you and others from fraudsters. At the same time you could also help to bring the offenders to justice.

Action Fraud refers all cases of fraud to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau which is run by the police service. Although each report cannot be investigated individually, the information you provide will aid the police to build up a national picture of fraud. This will help make the UK a more hostile place for fraudsters to operate in and keep other potential victims safe.

In some cases the police may want to contact you for further details. It is therefore important that you keep any relevant information about the fraud.

If you would like, you can also choose to have your details provided to Victim Support, a national charity that helps those affected by crime. If you take up this option, you will then be contacted by someone from the charity and offered free and confidential emotional support and practical help.

You can receive feedback on how to protect yourself from fraud and you may also register for a regular Newsletter which will provide information on how the data collected by Action Fraud has helped in making the UK a safer place.'

See also article by Julia Harding MW on Jancis Robinson's site here.