Two 'white knight' companies closed in public interest

Good news that the Insolvency Service has closed down two white knight companies: Capital Bordeaux Investments Ltd (founded 24th April 2012 with 24-year-old Scott Andrews as sole director) and Capital Bordeaux Investment Corporate Ltd (founded 2nd October 2012 with 24-year-old Aaron James Ali as sole director)  

Details of the case from the Insolvency Service:

'Capital Bordeaux Investments Limited and Capital Bordeaux Investment Corporate Limited, two London-based companies that claimed they could help victims of previous wine investment scams, were wound up in the High Court following an investigation by the Insolvency Service on 14 May 2014. 

Capital Bordeaux Investments Limited targeted victims of previous wine investment companies and falsely represented that it could assist them in recovering their losses. Instead, the company solicited further investment from these victims on the basis of false and misleading information. Investors were told that the company would be able to recover and sell their previous wine investments - even if these were made through a company which had gone into liquidation - but the investor was required to buy more wine through Capital Bordeaux Investments Limited.

Capital Bordeaux Investment Corporate Limited facilitated the operation of this business by allowing its bank account to be used to receive the investment monies. Its bank account shows receipts of £243,980.

The investigation found no evidence to show that any wine was bought by either Capital Bordeaux Investments Limited or Capital Bordeaux Investment Corporate Limited; or to show that either company made any attempts to, or had any ability to, recover previous losses suffered by investors.

Commenting on the case, Colin Cronin, an Investigation Supervisor with the Insolvency Service, said, 

“These companies cynically targeted people who had already lost money in other wine investment scams and exploited their desire to try and recover some of their original investment. The companies were incapable of recovering such losses. Significantly, none of the funds received from investors were used to buy wine and were instead used for the benefit of those in control of the companies.

I would urge victims of wine investment scams to exercise great caution if approached by companies which purport to be able to assist in recovering their past losses.” 

Please heed the warning from Colin Cronin! It is all too common for victims of one scam to be contacted by another scam outfit posing as a White Knight able to help out. In reality the object is to inflict further financial pain and damage on an investor, who has already been scammed.

See also earlier post on these two companies. 

Capital Bodeaux Wine Investments Ltd website falsely claimed that 'By choosing Capital Bordeaux Investments you are choosing one of the world's most experienced specialist investment companies'.

A cheap and nasty website

Message from Grant Thornton:

Should you want advice on your options please contact Samantha Street, a manager at Grant Thornton, at samantha.j.street@uk.gt.com or on 0207 728 2651.'

NB: investdrinks is prepared to post similar notices from other insolvency practitioners. 

 

Morgan Taylor Ltd: start-up company offering over-priced wines – now restructuring

'HELPING YOU REACH YOUR FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES'

I have been contacted by AJ, an unfortunate client of the now bankrupt The London Vines Ltd scam. AJ has been cold called Morgan Taylor Ltd. This is a recently created company formed on 21st January 2014. It has two directors: 25-year-old Oguz Aksehir and 26-year-old Muhammed Ali Zorlu and operates from The Chislehurst Business Centre, 1 Bromley Lane, Bromley, Kent BR7 6LH. The company's share capital is £2.   

'Established merchants of fine wine and investment options'  

Morgan Taylor established 21.1.2014

'At Morgan Taylor, we pride ourselves on providing 

everything you need to make an informed choice 

about where and how to invest in wine.

'Our team of London based advisors will provide 

all the information you need about the current wine market, 

helping you to select the finest wines available for the best returns.' 

Utter rubbish from the Morgan Taylor website:

'At Morgan Taylor we work with you to help find the best solutions for your circumstances. We listen closely to your needs and objectives in order to find out exactly what 'you' the client need. We then take the time to find the relevant product to help fulfil that need.'

AJ was contacted by a Stephen Bell and Joseph Salmon (almost certainly not their real names – 'personas' are regularly used by telesales staff working for this type of company). Bell offered to exchange the wines AJ did receive from The London Vines Ltd – like so many AJ didn't receive all of them – with the following selection of Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton-Rothschild. Totalling £64,400 in all.   

Offer from Morgan Taylor Ltd contained in document called 
wine reservation form 
- 'and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship'!! 

  

A little research on wine-searcher on UK merchants shows that the 2003 Lafite can today be purchased for from £6350 (£10,200 from Morgan Taylor Ltd), the 2008 for £5150 (£8100 MT Ltd), 2010 Lafite for £6450 (£10,050 from MT Ltd) and the 2009 Mouton-Rothschild for from £4900 (£7900 from MT Ltd). Instead of paying Morgan Taylor Ltd £64,400, this five case portfolio could have been bought for £40,550 – a saving of £23850 or 37% less than the total charged by Morgan Taylor Ltd. Fortunately AJ said thanks but no thanks to this Chislehurst-based wallet thinning operation.  

Back in April 2014 AJ was told by 'Joseph Salmon' that these wines selected by Morgan Taylor Ltd “should show a 30% return over the next 24 months”. So AJ could have expected to have seen his wine portfolio supplied by Morgan Taylor's  'team of London based advisors' worth £83,720 by April 2016. To date a check on wine-searcher shows that far from increasing in value the AJ's Morgan Taylor portfolio could be be purchased (6.1.2015) for £38790 – £1760 less than in April 2014.  

I can certainly see Morgan Taylor Ltd reaching their financial objectives but it is considerably less clear how their putative clients will benefit – . 

Muhammed Ali Zorlu is also the sole director of the intriguingly named Berkshire Hetherington Ltd with £1 of share capital. I would be most grateful for any information about Berkshire Hetherington Ltd founded on 29th April 2013. It current address is 72 Hammersmith Road, Crown House, London W14 8TH – a well-known accommodation address as was the previous one – 145-157 St John Street, London EC1V 4PW.

5.1.2015: Berkshire Hetherington Ltd is now at 5 Harbour Exchange Square, South Quay, Canary Wharf, London E14 9GE.  
  
Yet another company I would avoid due to lack of a track record, claiming to be established merchants when recently formed and offering over-priced wines as an investment while claiming 'to select the finest wines available for the best returns'. 

Update: 7.12.2014
Muhammed Ali Zorlu has informed me that of 1st December 2014 Morgan Taylor Ltd has ceased to cold call and restructured its business. He sent me their current price list that shows that their prices are more in-line with the best prices on wine-searcher, although they are not the most competitive. The 10 wines listed would cost a total of £67,413 if purchased through Morgan Taylor Ltd against £64,620 by shopping around on wine-searcher. Ali Zorlu also tells me that his company purchased the leads from a leads company and that they weren't passed on from The London Vines Ltd. 

Reports (8.12.2014) of UK nuisance callers and lead generators facing a crackdown.