Crimson Fine Wines – two directors banned 20 years in total

 

Craig Cooper and Jefferey Kushner, the two directors of Crimson Fine Wines Ltd, which was closed in the public interest on 17th August 2015 in the High Court in London, have been banned from acting as directors of UK companies for a total of 20 years. 

The company was incorporated was incorporated on 21st February 2011 with Craig Cooper and Jeffrey Kushner as directors. Cooper was only very briefly a director resigning on 23rd March 2011. However, as Kushner is resident in Canada, it was Cooper who ran the company. 

 

Crimson's explanation of the advantages of wine investment:

Crimson Fine Wines investment pitch did indeed turn out to be a 'story' with unfortunate investors owed £989,258 in unpurchased wine. 

•••

Press release from The Insolvency Service:

'Directors’ conduct in fine wine investment scam leaves sour taste 

Two directors of a company that traded in fine wines have been disqualified for a combined 20 years, following an Insolvency Service investigation. 

Customers who thought they were investing in fine wines investment scheme have been left out of pocket by nearly £1 million.

The investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Crimson Fine Wines Limited, based initially in London and then in Sittingbourne in Kent, used cold calling tactics and then failed to purchase or allocate wines to customers who had paid for their investments. The scheme offered investors returns over 12 months to five years, at a time when they claimed the property market and shares were less attractive.

The Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from Craig Cooper and Jefferey Kushner, preventing them from acting as directors for 11 and 9 years respectively.

Kushner was the listed director of Crimson Fine Wines Limited but lived in Canada, and allowed Cooper, who had previous experience in the industry, to run the operation.

As a result of this failure, at the time of liquidation of Crimson Fine Wines Limited there was insufficient wine held in the bonded warehouse to satisfy customers’ claims.

Additionally, Cooper used the company’s bank account for his own personal benefit, used his own personal bank account for the receipt of company funds and was paid at least one third share of £114,106 in dividends. Kushner was negligent in failing to monitor the company account, allowing it to be used for non-commercial benefits, but also received at least one third share of £114,106 in dividends.

Customer claims in the liquidation totalled £989,258, of the overall debts on liquidation of £1,080,724.

Karen Jackson, Official Receiver, said:

One of the main purposes of the Company Directors Disqualification Act is to ensure proper standards of conduct of company directors are maintained and to raise those standards where appropriate.

These disqualifications should serve as a reminder that the Insolvency Service will investigate unacceptable conduct by company directors.

The Insolvency Service will take action against directors who do not take their obligations seriously and abuse their position.

Notes to editors

Jeffrey Kushner’s date of birth is December 1980 and he resides in Ontario, Canada.
Craig Cooper’s date of birth is January 1983 and he resides in Chatham, Kent.

Crimson Fine Wines Ltd (CRO No. 07537346) was incorporated on 15 January 2008 and latterly traded from Sears Business Centre, 3-9 Station Street, Sittingbourne, United Kingdom, ME10 3DU.

Cooper was initially appointed as the company’s co-director with Kushner from incorporation on 1 February 2011. Cooper then resigned as a director at Companies House on 22 March 2011 but continued to act as a director until the company went into liquidation on 17 August 2015. The estimated deficiency at the date of Liquidation was £1,080,724.

On 18 July 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Craig Cooper, effective from 8 August 2017, for 11 years.

On 25 May 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Jeffrey Kushner, effective from 15 June 2017, for 9 years.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.'

 

Montevino Partners Ltd – into liquidation (28th April 2017) + various updates including 'antics'

.... going bust .....

As already reported by investdrinks Thomas Roger White has decided to put Montevino Partners Ltd, the phoenix company of Spirited Ventures Ltd that traded as Montevino Partners, into voluntary liquidation. Spirited Ventures Ltd went into liquidation in July 2016 before being wound up in the High Court in August 2016. 

The creditors' meeting for Montevino Partners Ltd will be on April 28th 2017 at the Wenta Business Centre, 1 Electric Avenue, Enfield EN3 7XU, on 28 April 2017, at 11:00 am:

It was notable that in the statement of affairs for Spirited Ventures Ltd White failed to make a complete declaration of all creditors. He left out an unknown number of the company's private investors who had paid for wine they did not receive. It is still not clear whether this omission by White was deliberate or just down to incompetence. 

Mark Ireson of the Insolvency Service is currently investigating White's failure to list all the creditors with regard to Spirited Ventures Ltd. I understand from Ireson that a liquidator has now been appointed to wind up Spirited Ventures Ltd. Details: Andrew Kelsall and Lee Green of Larking Gowen Chartered Accountants,  King Street House, 15 Upper King Street, Norwich NR3 1RB [0845 077 4165; info@larking-gowen.co.uk]. Creditors can claim by contacting the liquidators.

 

I trust that White's statement of affairs for Montevino Partners Ltd will be this time be properly comprehensive and list all creditors. Practice they say makes perfect!

White's statement should include the investor who bought around £70,000 worth of Barolo but who has never received their wine. Hardly surprising when no order was placed with the producer....   

White's statement of affairs for Montevino Partners will be available free through Companies House's excellent Beta Service. I suspect I will not be alone in reading this statement with keen interest... 

Montevino Partners – Mark 3

To date there appears to be no sign of the promised Montevino Partners Mark 3. 

Thomas White has been promising potential backers of this new venture that he will be instructing solicitors to put forward a case for defamation in relation to my various posts about the Montevino Partners saga. 

Here are a selection of email messages from Thomas White to potential supporters of his latest venture:   

   

'Also have instructed them to look into Jim Budd what can be done to stifle him to stop him damaging the Newco before we start.'  (Thomas White: 20.2.17)

 

'And I will be engaging the solicitor to continue to look at Mr J Budds (sic) antics, I don't wish him to jeopardise what we are trying to do, we require fair treatment.' (Thomas White: 22.2.17)

'I am still awaiting the full feedback from solicitor regarding the defamation posts online and what can be done or the approach that is best to take. It is a frustrating delay but I'm sure you agree that I wish to make sure that before we launch our new ship for its voyage beyond the harbour, we should check what the weathers like at open sea and if any storms are likely from Mr Budd.

So I will be actively chasing this advice down next week, so will update again when possible.' (Thomas White – early March 2017).

Despite Mr White's 'active chasing' I have yet to receive any communication from any solicitor acting for Thomas White, who I invited in February 2017 to inform me what he believed was 'defamatory' in my posts. To date I have received no reply from White. Probably hardly surprising as my posts are largely based on material that White himself has filed with Companies House.

Has White's intention to launch a third 'Montevino Partners' been slowed by the very welcome investigation by the The Insolvency Service or has White perhaps failed to convince enough clients of Montevino Partners to sink more good money after bad? Have they looked at White's record as a director at Companies House and concluded that 'third time lucky' is a gamble too far? 

We will see ....    

Jail for cold-caller who scammed elderly wine investors – Jonothan Piper gets just desserts

Insolvency Service press release (30th September 2016): 

Jonothan Piper, from Wanstead, has been sentenced to five and a half years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of fraudulent trading, two counts of money laundering and one count of cheating HM Revenue and Customs of tax at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 22 August 2016.

Piper, 30, who was the director of Embassy Wine (UK) Limited and previously traded as a land and diamonds salesman, pleaded guilty to defrauding investors out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and to failing to pay tax and National Insurance on his earnings for six years.

Investors complained that they had been mis-sold expensive wine collections and had either not received the wine they were promised or were deceived in respect of the expected returns. Many investors were then persuaded to sell their wine collections to Piper’s company, but did not receive the promised payment. An investigation by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) found that the self-professed fine-wine broker had not traded legitimately at all and had set up the company simply to con investors out of approximately £300,000.

BEIS discovered that HMRC was also conducting an investigation into Piper, and the matter was jointly prosecuted with the CPS. Piper also pocketed more than £51,000 in Income Tax and National Insurance contributions from his undeclared earnings, between 2008 and 2014.

Deputy Chief Investigation Officer Ian West from BEIS said:

Mr Piper cynically attempted to dissolve his company Embassy Wine (UK) Limited without notifying his creditors of his intention or complying with the three month trading restriction prior to any application for the striking off/dissolution of a company, to mask his fraudulent activity. It was established that he had defrauded his companies’ unsuspecting clients of in excess of £295,000 in a wine investment scam carried out, in conjunction with other frauds against the revenue to fund his expensive lifestyle. He now has to face the serious consequences of his criminal lifestyle.

This case should serve as a warning to those that seek to utilise the Insolvency regime to further fraudulent activity, that the BEIS Criminal Enforcement Directorate, will with law enforcement partners, ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted with the full force of the law.

Notes to editors

Jonothan Jeremiah Piper - date of birth 8 April 1986 - of Foxglove Gardens, Wanstead, pleaded guilty to: Acting with intent to prejudice or defraud HM Revenue and Customs, Fraudulent Trading, contrary to section 993(1) of the Companies Act 2006, Converting Criminal Property, contrary to section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000 and Converting Criminal Property, contrary to section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000, at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 22 August 2016.

He was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment for defrauding HMRC and 3.5 years’ consecutive imprisonment for the fraudulent trading offence. He was sentenced to 15 months’ concurrent imprisonment for the two counts of money laundering.

On 17 November 2015 Mr Piper was disqualified as a director for 11 years.

‘Pernicious’ Prestige Fine Wine Ltd shut in public interest

Prestige Fine Wine: 

'In the past five years, a balanced fine wine collection 

portfolio has shown returns of 166%'

On Wednesday 16th December 2015  Croydon-based Prestige Fine Wine Ltd was wound up in the public interest in the High Court, London. The company, described as ‘pernicious’ by Registrar Sally Barber, was wound up for ‘its lack of commercial probity’, failure to keep financial records and that it had been abandoned, despite still having a duty to investors who purchased wine as these are held in an umbrella account at London City Bond.    

The company was founded in March 2010 with £1 share capital. The initial director was 46-year-old Glenn Barrington Ward (DOB: 20.7.1969) of Flat 6, 20 Spencer Road, South Croydon CR2 7EH, who was appointed on 5th March 2010. Ward has also been a director of Prestige Collections Ltd (see below) and Bright Hand Car Wash Ltd founded on 6th February 2008 and dissolved by compulsory strike-off on 22nd September 2009. No accounts or returns were filed.

Glenn Ward resigned on 22nd September 2014 and was replaced on the same day by 24-year-old Ibrahim Tarkou (DOB: 13.2.1991). 

Prestige's single share was initially held the company's secretary until she resigned in October 2012 when it passed to Glenn Barrington Ward. The last return filed on 9th April 2014 showed Glenn Ward as the sole shareholder (£1). There is no record of the share being transferred to Tarkou when Ward resigned in September 2014.  

Spencer Road was company's initial registered office. This was changed to 100 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5NQ, a serviced office, in May 2010. In October 2013 the registered office changed to Anova House, Wickhurst Lane, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham, East Sussex RH12 3LZ. This is the address of Anova chartered accountants, who were for a while accountants for Prestige Fine Wine. Anova ceased to be Prestige's accountants as the company's accounts were so poor. There was a further change in October 2014 when Prestige Fine Wine Ltd's registered office moved to Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon CRO OXZ. The company had no physical presence there and this arrangement ceased on 4th February 2015. Thereafter there is no record of a functioning registered office.

Although there is no suggestion that Prestige Fine Wine Ltd was linked to Blakeney Bridge Wines Ltd and its associated raft of carbon credit companies, also recently closed in the public interest, were registered at Airport House.     

Prestige Fine Wine Ltd was initially put into provisional liquidation on 13^th October 2015.  There was no response from the company or its current director - Ibrahim Tarkou  – to the Insolvency Service’s investigation or to the provisional liquidation even though papers were sent to Ibrahim Tarkou's home address. 

However, Glenn Ward, the previous director, was in contact with the Insolvency Service. He told the investigation that a second company – Prestige Collections Ltd – was being operated through Prestige Fine Wine Ltd. This could not be verified as there were no records.  

Prestige Collections Ltd was founded on 19th October 2011 and dissolved through compulsory strike-off on 16th July 2013. Its registered office was 205 High Street, West Wickham, Kent, United Kingdom, BR4 0PH – the address of accountants Withall & Co Ltd. There were four directors: Catherine Elizabeth Ellis (DOB: 15.8.1985), Laureen Veronica Delisser (14,9.1983), Clive George Davidson (DOB: 3.9.1971) and Glenn Barrington Ward. Davidson was appointed on 19th October 2011 and resigned on 8.11.2011. No accounts or returns were filed and the company was dissolved on 16th July 2013. 

The court heard that diamonds were the business of Prestige Collections Ltd. Glenn Ward alleged that Clive Davidson 'ran off with £1 million of the company's money'. However, the court was told that this allegation could not be verified. Registrar Barber and Counsel for the Secretary of State expressed concern that this arrangement involving the two companies was a potential conduit for money laundering.   

The company's website claimed: 'In the past five years, a balanced fine wine collection portfolio has shown returns of 166%'. The court heard that no data backed this claim. 

Potential investors were cold called and told that the value of their wines would increase dramatically within a year. Some were quoted 15%, others a minimum of 20%.  These figures were fictional and based on no data. Investors were told that their purchases of wine would be 'a short-term investment'.  

Investors were misled by false portfolio reports, which showed that their wines had increased from between 3.2% to 5.4% in less than a month. These fictional reports were solely designed to persuade investors to purchase more wine. This practice was described as 'pernicious' Registrar Barber.   

One investor purchased three cases of wine on 16th December 2013. They were sent the portfolio report on 6th January 2014, which showed healthy increases on all of their three wines. These increases were not based on any real data – instead were made up figures. Unfortunately the portfolio report achieved its purpose and the investor bought a further £10,000 worth of wine on 20th January 2014. At this time Glenn Barrington Ward was the sole director of the company.  

The company was more than 'pernicious' when an elderly man with Alzheimer's was persuaded to buy non-existent 'shares' in Prestige Fine Wine Ltd  paying out £150,000 for which he received absolutely nothing.  He was told that he 'should hold these shares for as long as possible'. Records at Companies House show no increase in the company's share capital. I hope criminal charges are brought against those responsible for this unspeakably callous act.  

Some £2 million passed through the company’s bank account. Of this £963,000 was identified by investigators as personal expenditure. 

 

 

Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach (Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd): gets 15-year ban

Kenneth Gundlach gets 15-year directorship ban for wine investment scam  

Will criminal charges follow?

'Insolvency Service press release Bordeaux Fine Wine
20 February 2015

Fine wine scammer gets maximum disqualification

Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach, the director of Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited, a company which sold wine to members of the public, has been disqualified from promoting, managing or directing a limited company until 2030 for failing to purchase at least £9.3 million of wine sold to investors.

In the undertaking given to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Mr Gundlach accepted that he had failed to purchase and/or allocate at least 1,750 cases of wine to satisfy purchases made by its customers. His disqualification is for 15 years, the maximum period available.

Investigators noted that Mr Gundlach had received dividends from the company totalling over £10 million and found that this was in excess of the value of the wine the company ought to have purchased for its customers

Commenting on this case Paul Titherington, Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit, said:

“It was Mr Gundlach and his salesmen who benefited from this company rather than its honest investors.  He continued to sell wine when he knew he had failed to fulfil earlier sales. Anyone showing such blatant disregard for commercial morality should expect to be banned from running any limited company for a lengthy period time.”  

The disqualification follows investigation by the Public Interest Unit, a specialist team of the Insolvency Service. Mr Gundlach used the dividends he received from the company to fund his lifestyle which included payments for performance cars, race horses (including Bunbury Cup winner Field of Dream), private jet hire, and designer clothing and jewellery.  Mr Gundlach continued to market and sell wine to existing investors at a time when he knew or ought to have known that those investors had still not been allocated the cases of wine they had previously purchased from the Company. 

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited was wound up in the public interest on 26th February 2014 following an earlier investigation by the Investigations and Enforcement Services division of the Insolvency Service.

The disqualification follows investigation by the Public Interest Unit, a specialist team of the Insolvency Service. Mr Gundlach used the dividends he received from the company to fund his lifestyle which included payments for performance cars, race horses (including Bunbury Cup winner Field of Dream), private jet hire, and designer clothing and jewellery.  Mr Gundlach continued to market and sell wine to existing investors at a time when he knew or ought to have known that those investors had still not been allocated the cases of wine they had previously purchased from the Company. 

Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited was wound up in the public interest on 26 February 2014 following an earlier investigation by the Investigations and Enforcement Services division of the Insolvency Service.

Commenting on the case, Vicky Bagnall, director of Investigations and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:

“These excellent results show that where the public have been scammed we do not stop at winding the company up, we also pursue the individual directors to ensure that if they wish to trade again, they must do so at their own risk.”

  

Notes to Editors
Bordeaux Fine Wines Ltd (“BFW”) was incorporated on 18 September 2008. Its trading address was at 3rd Floor, Lansdowne Road, Croydon CR9 2ER. 

The petition to wind up the company was presented by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovations and Skills in the public interest following an investigation conducted by Company Investigations (Live), another specialist unit within the Insolvency Service. The winding up order was made against BFW on 26 February 2014.

The liquidator has advised that he has received claims from investors and creditors totalling £57,697,885 (including a claim from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs of £15,875,210 ) which are yet to be adjudicated. 

On 30 January 2015, Kenneth Jean Pierre Gundlach (“Mr Gundlach”) signed a disqualification undertaking for a period of 15 years which means that he cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company until 2030.  The period of disqualification will commence from 23 February 2015.  The misconduct Mr Gundlach admitted to was:

Mr Gundlach caused BFW to trade in a manner which lacked commercial probity in that he caused it to fail to purchase and/or allocate sufficient cases of wine to satisfy purchases made by its customers. In particular between 3 March 2009 and the cessation of trade BFW:

Sold 3,196 cases of wine totalling at least £19,264,388 to members of the public as an investment; and

Failed to supply 1,750 cases of wine to accounts at the bonded warehouse in the investor’s name totalling at least £9,393,373 whilst only having 780 cases stored in its bonded warehouse which were sold by the liquidator for £1,513,150 before costs;

In addition, Mr Gundlach:
Caused BFW to continue to market and sell wine to investors who either had no account at the LCB or when BFW had not transferred the previous purchase into the investor’s bonded warehouse account; and

Failed to monitor and review the position of BFW with respect to the correct allocation of an investor’s wine to a bonded warehouse in their name when he knew from 1 October 2010 that BFW had failed to supply wine, and continued to do so when he admits he was fully aware from May or June 2013.

5.      The result of which is that following the making of the winding-up Order, wine held in BFW’s bonded warehouse account could not be allocated to a particular investor.

6.      At a time when BFW was failing to purchase sufficient wine to satisfy investors purchases and failing to allocate wine to a particular investor’s bonded warehouse account, Mr Gundlach:
Received dividends totalling £10,680,516 as shown in accounts filed at Companies House; and
Appears to have used BFW’s account for his personal benefit

Selected transactions identified in the Company bank accounts and/or records show the following payments:

·        £626,148 to bloodstock companies probably for the purchase of race horses;

·        £553,803 for the purchase and running of motor vehicles;

·        £170,000 to a well known bespoke jeweller;

·        £141,589 for private jet hire and associated costs; and

·        £38,500 for an office Christmas party.

A disqualification has the effect that without the specific permission of the court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

·        Act as a director

·        Take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership

·        Act as an insolvency practitioner; or

·        Be a receiver of a company’s property

In addition many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations. Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions can be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/insolvent-companies 

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit (South), The Insolvency Service, 2nd Floor, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 020 7637 6228  Email: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk    

David Ingram of Grant Thornton UK LLP was appointed as liquidator of the BFW on 14 March 2014 following a meeting of creditors. As part of Mr Ingram's duties as the liquidator, he is to realise assets for the benefit of the liquidation estate and will investigate the affairs of Bordeaux Fine Wines Limited and the conduct of Mr Gundlach in so far as it assists him in identifying and recovering assets. To date, Mr Ingram has realised the total sum of £1,423,132 for the liquidation estate and his investigations are ongoing.  Investors and creditors who have not submitted a claim in the proceedings should contact the liquidator’s office: matthew.d.vines@uk.gt.com

Land-banking scammer disqualified as director for 14 years

Director disqualified for £1.7 million landbanking scam that left customers with virtually worthless land

A company director who ran an extensive landbanking scam through his three companies that misled members of the public into parting with at least £1.7 million for small plots of land of little value has been disqualified from being a company director for 14 years.

A company director who ran an extensive landbanking scam through his three companies that misled members of the public into parting with at least £1.7 million for small plots of land of little value has been disqualified from being a company director for 14 years.

 

Eren Metcalfe, formerly known as Eren Cemal Ibrahim, was the sole director of Natural Wealth Solutions Ltd, Proctor Capital Ltd and Land Security Management Ltd, three companies that were wound up in the public interest by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, after an investigation carried out by Live Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, following complaints by members of the public. 

Examination of the companies’ affairs by the Official Receiver after the winding up orders showed that, between them, Natural Wealth Solutions Ltd and Proctor Capital Ltd received at least £1.7 million, the proceeds of a land banking scheme which misled members of the public in order to induce them to buy plots of land as an investment, when it was not.

The companies’ salespeople represented the plots of land that they marketed as being suitable for development and having a realistic prospect of obtaining planning permission. However, the land sold to customers had little, if any, value for development purposes and was sold at mark ups of between 18 and 63 times the purchase price per acre. None of the land had planning permission, and had little prospect of obtaining it. Neither Mr Metcalfe nor the staff had any expertise in assessing land, and made no enquiries as to the likelihood of planning permission being granted. 

Commenting on the disqualifications Paul Titherington, Official Receiver at The Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said:

As with all the other land banking companies that the Official Receiver has dealt with over many years, these companies have brought misery to unsuspecting members of the public, who were persuaded to part with their savings in exchange for virtually worthless plots of land. In over 7 years of dealing with land banking scams I have not seen a single piece of land that has been sold in this way actually go on to obtain planning permission. Every single customer has lost their money in what was a horrendous investment. (Bold by ed)

Read the rest here: 

Although for a relatively small total 'at least £1.7 million compared to the £35 million involved in the Countrywide Land £35 million fraud, it has some of the same hallmarks – land sold on the virtually impossible promise that it would be rezoned and investors systematically misled by a boiler room  telesales staff.

 

Countrywide Land sold plots of land that were touted as an investment. In reality they were worthless of next to worthless. Some of the ringleaders of this £35 million fraud were jailed on 8^th March 2013, although Andrew Dunne is believed to be still in Northern Cyprus. 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/jail-beckons-for-the-countrywi.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bromley-boiler-room-scams-key-2332486

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/jail-beckons-for-the-countrywi.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2290363/Gang-conned-investors-paying-35MILLION-worthless-plots-land-jailed-26-years.html