Speed Associates Ltd – a warning from Grant Thornton

From: David Ingram (Grant Thornton) – liquidator for Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd 

Just received the email below from a BFW creditor. Suffice to say the liquidation of BFW continues.  We have had no dealings with Speed Associates and BFW did not purchase wine from them. This appears to be another scam so I’d be grateful if you could put an alert on your blog to that effect.

 

Email from BFW creditor:

'I was wondering if you could help me.

 

I am one of the unfortunate investors who has lost money due to the liquidation of the above company. I have been receiving correspondence from Grant Thornton in relation their investigations into the whereabouts of all the wine which investors purchased. However, today, I have received a phone call from a company called Speed Associates, a chap called James Clarke.  He informed me that they had taken over the liquidation of this company due to Grant Thornton having exhausted every avenue.  He told me they were one of the merchants who supplied wine to Bordeaux and that he thinks they may have some of my wines.  He has asked me to provide him with details of the wines I had in my portfolio but I was, obviously, reluctant to do this without checking out his story.  I was, therefore, hoping you would be able to advise me on the validity of this company and person.

 

I hope you are able to help me and look forward to hearing from you.'

Speed Associates Ltd 

Although Speed Associates Ltd was founded on 9th December 2002, it remained a dormant company for many years. The last set of dormant accounts were made up to 31st December 2013. It has one director – Steven Dhadda (DOB: 15.4.1965). He was appointed on 1st June 2014 but the appointment notice was not received by Companies House for filing until 13th July 2015. Until 2015 the company's share capital was £1. However, the last annual return to 9th December 2015 filed on 19th May 2016 shows that the share capital is now £100,000 – all held by Steven Dhadda. On two occasions Speed Associates have been threatened with compulsory strike-off – 14.4.2015 and 15.3.2016. On both occasions this has presumably been because Steven Dhadda has not filed Speed Associates Ltd's annual return on time. 

It is interesting to note James Clarke's (his real name?) claim that Speed Associates Ltd supplied wine to Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd. Firstly because BFW failed to buy a substantial amount of the wine they sold. Secondly and more importantly The Official Receiver was appointed as provisional liquidator for Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd just two days after the period covered (to 31.1.2013) in Speed Associates Ltd in their last set of dormant accounts. 1st January 2014 was a public holiday. 

The claim that Speed Associates Ltd has taken over the liquidation of BFW is also untrue as Grant Thornton's David Ingram, the liquidator, confirms. Ingram's assessment that Steven Dhadda's Speed Associates Ltd is a scam appears to be correct.        

 

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


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••

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

 

APW Asset Management in liquidation: possible appointment of liquidator

Now that APW Asset Management Ltd has been wound up in the public interest I expect that the Insolvency Service will now seek to appoint an insolvency practitioner to wind up the company and do the necessary investigation. This this case it will be important that, if an independent practitioner is appointed that they do a thorough investigation into not only the running of APW Asset Management but also to discover who is behind Big Wine Company Ltd, the chief shareholder of APW Asset Management Ltd and what links there may be to other wine investment companies.

See here.

As previously I have agreed to post the following notice for the information of creditors of APW. If there are other insolvency practitioners who also wish to be appointed liquidator of APW, I will be happy to post notices from them, too.   

Message from David Ingram of Grant Thornton  
'Following the winding up of APW Asset Management Ltd it is likely that the Official Receiver will convene a meeting of the company’s creditors to appoint an independent Insolvency Practitioner as liquidator of APW.  At the time of writing the date for the creditors’ meeting has not been set.  The appointment of the independent liquidator will be based upon the value of creditors supporting the nomination of that Insolvency Practitioner.  I am aware that David Ingram of Grant Thornton is seeking the appointment as liquidator in this case; David and his team have dealt with a number of fraudulent wine investment companies, notably Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd and Fine Wine Vintners Ltd.  David specialises in contentious insolvency appointments – those cases that require a thorough investigation as to the background of the insolvency and the dealings of the directors of the company. David’s email address is david.ingram@uk.gt.com and has advised me he is happy to answer queries from creditors of APW.'

Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd: more details on meeting to appoint liquidator

The meeting (Friday 14th March) was chaired by Phil Amatt, Assistant Official Receiver. David Ingram secured the majority of votes and consented to the appointment to act as Liquidator.

All known creditors will be written to confirming David Ingram's (Grant Thornton) appointment and advising of the next steps. This letter will be issued once the handover papers have been received from the Official Receiver's office and initial investigations have been undertaken. 

Should there be any creditors who have not previously been contacted by The Official Receiver or do not believe they are a known creditor they are asked to contact Matthew Vines or Alex Taylor of Grant Thornton to register their details. It should be noted that any creditors who have lodged a proof of debt form do not need to make contact as these forms will be made available by The Official Receiver to the Liquidator. 

Contacts:

Matthew Vines: matthew.d.vines@uk.gt.com

Alex Taylor: alex.j.taylor@uk.gt.com

Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd – appointment of liquidator

It seems very likely that Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd will be put into full liquidation on 26th February 2014 when the Insolvency Service's petition is due to be heard in the High Court.

I am happy to put up the following message from Grant Thornton UK LLP, who have been asked to act as liquidators with David Ingram, acting as liquidator, if the provisional liquidation is confirmed. 

I am also prepared to put up similar notices from any other companies wishing to be appointed as liquidators to Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd.

••

Message from Grant Thornton to creditors of Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd:

URGENT ACTION REQUIREDBordeaux Fine Wines Ltd (“BFW”), a company that sold wine to investors, was put into provisional liquidation by the High Court in the public interest on 19 December 2013, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

The Official Receiver is acting as provisional liquidator with a hearing set for 26 February 2014 to place the company into formal compulsory liquidation. It is at this point that an Insolvency Practitioner may be appointed to act as Liquidator to investigate the financial affairs of the company and seek to maximise the potential return to creditors.

Should BFW be placed into liquidation at the hearing HMRC wish to request David Ingram, who is a partner in The Fraud Insolvency Division (FInD) at Grant Thornton UK LLP, to act as Liquidator.

Should you be a creditor having previously purchased wine through BFW and wish to know how Grant Thornton UK LLP can represent your interests in this matter please do contact Samantha Street, a manager at Grant Thornton, at samantha.j.street@uk.gt.com or alternatively 0207 728 2651.

Grant Thornton have successfully dealt with a number of wine investment companies making good recoveries for investors noting there will be no charge to investors in making a nomination for David Ingram to be appointed to act.

FInD specialise in tracing and recovering assets and are a national team together with an international reach with a presence in all offshore financial centres. They have recovered assets from many jurisdictions and are currently successfully recovering monies for victims of various investment scams, including off plan property developments, mortgage fraud and boiler room fraud, in the UK, Spain, Caribbean, USA, the Middle East and other overseas jurisdictions.

For further information regarding Grant Thornton's insolvency investigation services please visit http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/en/Services/Recovery--Reorganisation/Fraud-Insolvency-Division-FInD/