Premier Capital Finance Ltd – Irish company cloned by fraudsters?

£

                    Invoice sent by 'Premier Capital Finance'
to John B 19th August 2021

 

                               Underwritten guarantee from 'Premier Capital Finance' to John B

with signature by Ian Hartery, Director 

It would appear that the Irish company Premier Capital Finance Ltd (IE544663) has been cloned by fraudsters operating an advance fee fraud. An invoice for £1850 from 'Premier Capital Finance Ltd' was sent to John B on 19th August 2021. It purported to be a guarantee that on payment of this sum for 'fees pertaining to the Account Remission for your Imperial Fine Wines, in the exit of your Investment Portfolio as orchestrated by the Guarantor' he would receive payment of £41,900. The Guarantee was signed by Ian Hartery, director.

There is confusion over the company name. The now dissolved Imperial Fine Wines Ltd registered at a company formation business in Kensington. Set up in November 2012 the company never traded and was dissolved voluntarily in August 2018. Instead it was through Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd that John B bought his 'investment' wines. This company was founded as Imperial Wines of London Ltd on 21st May 2008 with Ben Cazaly (DOB: June 1982) and Barry Gamble (DOB: 19th July 1980). The company changed its name to Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd in January 2017. On 6th July 2021 the company was compulsorily dissolved. A restraint order by the Treasury Solicitor on the company's assets was obtained at St Albans Crown Court on 28th November 2018. In the lead up to the company's dissolution this has now been disclaimed by the Treasury Solicitor. 

 

Details of Court Order

It is, of course highly unlikely that there are any remaining assets from the now dissolved Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd and that this invoice is a further attempt by fraudsters to extract more money from already deceived investors. Incidentally these fraudsters are chasing a dead man as John B died several years ago – sadly his death was possibly hastened by the stress caused by his unwise 'investments'.

 

As is increasingly the case these fraudsters appear to have cloned Premier Capital Finance Ltd (IE544663) based at Caherass Stud Farm, Croom, Co Limerick. The company dates from 28th May 2014 and Ian Hartery is a director.

 

 

 

Ian Hartery (DOB Sept 1976), a director of Premier Capital Finance Ltd
and also a director of Premier Capital Holdings Ltd 

 

I think it is highly unlikely that Ian Hartery and Premier Capital Finance Ltd are part of this advance fee fraud – instead innocent victims especially as Nick Hartery, who is also based at Caherass Stud Farm, is the current chairman of Horse Racing Ireland. Unfortunately I have had no response to an email sent on 21st August to Mr Hartery explaining my suspicions over the cloning of Premier Capital Finance Ltd but have yet to receive a reply. 

 

When I first started to look into Premier Capital Finance Ltd their website claimed that the company was registered in the UK as this Google search below shows:

However, on Premier Capital Finance website now says that the company is registered in Ireland:

 

Copyright is given as 2019 but the website wasn't set up until 26.7.21.

Regarding copyright the fraudsters have no compunction over copying text from legitimate finance companies like the Roxbury and Charles Stanley.  

 

 

Financial claims from Premier Capital Finance website

 

Above text copied from the Roxbury site 

 

I contacted Roxbury, who confirmed that the text above used by Premier Capital Finance has been purloined without their knowledge and permission. Roxbury has contacted Action Fraud. I have also contacted Charles Stanley but had no response. 

Do watch out for these sophisticated advance fee frauds

Note on the bankrupt Barry Gamble
Gamble resigned from Imperial Wines of London Lt in January 2009 and went on to be a director of The London Vines Ltd, which also sold dubious wine investments. Gamble resigned in April 2013 and has been bankrupt since 8th December 2015 with his discharge suspended indefinitely until conditions set down by the Croydon County Court have been fulfilled.   

London City Vintners Ltd – incredible progress despite COVID

There are times when you just have to salute and admire the eye-watering progress made by a young company. Step forward Alex John Bond's London City Vintners Ltd. The company was formed on 19th August 2019. Bond became a director on 19th November 2019. Just four months later the UK and the rest Europe was in lock down due to the COVID pandemic. 

 

For many fledgling companies lock down would have been catastrophic. Apparently not so for for Bond's London City Vintners Ltd who according to their website have 'due to our close relationship with Bordeaux's top négociants' 'we have exclusive access to specific vintages from the region's finest vineyards'. Furthermore 'Due to our close relationship with Bordeaux's top négociants we are able to supply some of the region's most exclusive and sought after wines in volumes that no other vintner can match'. 

One has to wonder why long established UK merchants haven't managed to negotiate similarly favourable deals...

 

 

In addition to exclusive deals with Bordeaux merchants London City Vintners Ltd boasts its own storage facility:

'Why store your wine at the London City Vintners?'
'In addition to the exceptional natural characteristics of our storage we rely on the latest technology to guarantee the all criteria and in particular avoid rotting of boxes, boxes and labels as well as the proliferation of odor.'

Rather curiously the photo Bond has chosen to illustrate his storage facility appears to be one of a sparkling wine cellar with the bottles maturing on their sides and a couple of wooden pupitres at the far end of the shot. Possibly Bond hasn't yet had time to take a photo of his storage facility... 

No employees...

Amazingly Alex Bond has achieved all this progress without any employees during the company's first accounting period to 31st August 2020...!!

 

 

 

 

   

Storage Resources – another advance fee fraud scam

 

On Friday I was contacted by WV, whose late father unfortunately bought a number of years ago some wine from scam investment companies. She had recently received a letter (see part below) sent to her late father's address by Storage Resources.

 

The letter from 'Paul Foley, Director' claims that Storage Resources has wine in its storage facility belonging to clients of Imperial Fine Wine Ltd. It now possible for clients to claim their outstanding funds, except for those who 'holdings have unfortunately been sold by the director of Imperial Fine Wines Ltd'. The clients will be reimbursed through 'Equity Partners Group' who apparently 'have been appointed and authorised by the Insolvency Service to assist in the sale of assets and the reimbursement of client capital. (Equity Partners Group - Tel: 0203 488 8049). 

Foley explains that the delay in clients getting their funds back is because of 'the liquidation of Imperial Fine Wines' 'predominantly due to the pending high court claim held against the company and its sole director (Mr Pan Wong).

WV was told that there was '£43,750 from wine they have sold but I need to pay £3500 to get that money. I need to pay Equity Partners Group'. She was told that the £3500 would go into a escrow account was refundable once the transfer of the capital sum. WV duly received documentation from 'Equity Partners Group Ltd' with a letter signed by the 'director'. WV thought this arrangement was strange so contacted me. 

There are a number of very curious aspects to this 'narrative'.

So where start? Well let's first have a look at Imperial Fine Wines Ltd. The company was founded in November 2012 with Pan Pan Wong, who lives in Hong Kong, as the sole director. The company filed accounts for every year for 2013 through to 2017. On 15.4.2018 Wong applied to have the company voluntarily struck off, which duly happened on 7th August 2018. Curiously Storage Resources fail to mention that Imperial Fine Wines Ltd never traded – all the filed accounts were for a dormant company. Thus there was no liquidation process, no high court claim either against the company or its sole director. 

Nor, of course, was there any wine to be sold. The £43,750 cannot exist either: it is just bait for an advance fee fraud. 

Now let us turn our attention to Storage Resources. It is just as well there is no wine because Storage Resources does not have a bonded warehouse facility in Harlow.

 

Map of Edinburgh Way, Temple Fields, Harlow
plenty of businesses but no sign of Storage Resources
A bonded warehouse would be a very substantial building,
especially one with 20" thick walls!

Equally no sign of Storage Resources on 
Edinburgh Way from Satellite

No storage facility in Harlow – surely there must be some mistake as their website waxes lyrical over the ideal conditions they offer for storing wine. Time to compare and contrast:

Storage Resources:

'Our Cellar

Fine wine often improves with time, but ageing in the wrong conditions can irreversibly compromise your collection and investment. At 55° we understand how the wine evolves in the bottle.

​Our facility’s 20-inch thick walls and insulated interior walls are supplemented by refrigeration for an ideal cellar environment.  The sturdy stone building also protects wine from potentially harmful natural light and vibration.

​Vital Conditions

​The key to proper wine storage is providing an ideal and unchanging environment, one that allows the wine to age slowly and gracefully.

​Climate: It is generally agreed that temperatures from 55° to 59° allow wines to develop at an optimum rate. Higher temperatures will age wine prematurely, devaluing and shortening a wine's lifespan.  55°’s cellar features thermostat-controlled refrigeration which provides excellent air circulation (important for controlling mildew) and ensures even temperature distribution throughout.

Light: Light can prematurely age wine, even when the exposure is very brief. Our stone cellar prevents natural light penetration; we use low-intensity lighting throughout to provide the greatest degree of protection.

​Vibration: Vibration can affect the equilibrium and development of wine. Our solid stone walls and concrete flooring minimize movement within the cellar.

Security: For the utmost protection, our facility is equipped with state-of-the-art infrared motion detectors and security alarm systems. Each locker is secured with an individual padlock and key, and all conditions are monitored 24 hours a day.'

 

Contrast this text from 55˚:

With the exception of 'Built in 1889 as a brandy storage warehouse' the rest is a direct copy of 55˚, a wine storage facility in Napa, California that was established 15 years ago. 

 

 

 

Not only have Storage Resources purloined text from 55˚ they have also pinched their photos:

In summary Storage Resources have copied texts from three Californian storage facilities – 55˚, Armored Storage in Lane County and Vinfolio – plus just for good measure copied a text from London City Bond on deliveries. Amusingly whoever did the copying for Storage Resources forgot to take out the Californian place names such as Eugene and Lane County – somewhat of a giveaway. 

However, the most glaring error is to have left in the Californian earthquake – the first time I was aware that Harlow in the UK was also affected by the tremors:

Storage Resources: 2014 Napa Earthquake – 'only 17 were damaged'

Vinfolio: 2014 Napa Earthquake – 'only 17 were damaged'

Finally what about the Equity Partners Group Ltd? At first sight this company's apparent involvement is a bit of a puzzle, especially as Storage Resources story about funds available from wine sold from a company that never traded. The answer is, however, simple. Just as Storage Resources has used texts from four storage companies, they have cloned Equity Partners Group Ltd and taken over its identity in a classic scam. I should stress that I am sure that Equity Partners Group Ltd and its director are innocent victims of this scam.

Equity Partners Group Ltd was founded in May 2009. Its registered office is at accountants Aston Shaw in Norwich and appears to be based in Great Yarmouth 

 

 

A Google search throws up an address at 1 Trafalgar Square, Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5BW with a London phone number. Interestingly the supposed 'Equity Partners Group' website that was accessible on Saturday has been unobtainable since Sunday. This website claimed that Equity Partners Group Ltd is a financial services company offering funds along with advice on ISA's and pensions. Naturally the fake company isn't approved by the FCA (Financial Services Authority) to offer financial advice. 

 

The clincher that the identity of Equity Partners Group Ltd has been cloned by the fraudsters behind Storage Resources is that the signature of the 'director' on the letter with accompanying documents sent to WV does not match the signature of the real director on documents filed with Companies House.

 

Storage Resources is an advance fee fraud – please avoid!