KP Law helps people who have been affected by investment fraud and mis-selling get their money back. But what does investment fraud look like? Here are some examples of the type of cases we can help with.
Sports investment fraud
Iain is a professional footballer. His financial advisor – a long-term family friend who Iain trusted – persuaded him to invest in a property scheme with promises of significant returns.
The advisor was not used to dealing with high-net-worth clients, and he was lured by the high commission he received for getting Iain to invest. He failed to undertake thorough checks on the scheme and failed to explain the risks to Iain.
Despite seeing an initial profit, Iain has since lost thousands. The scheme was a scam, and through his advisor’s greed and negligence, Iain was conned into the investment. To compound matters, Iain was left with a large loan outstanding which related to the property, and he had to find the money to pay this off, on top of his losses.
Iain is not alone. Many sportsmen and women have lost fortunes due to financial scams or negligent advice. Victims are facing losses ranging from a few thousand to millions of pounds.
Tax avoidance fraud
Occupational pension mis-selling
Sarah is a teacher. She had a final salary/defined benefit pension. However, her financial advisor convinced her to transfer this to a personal pension scheme that later went bust. As a result, Sarah has lost thousands of pounds.
If you were advised to transfer from a workplace pension to an unsuitable scheme and the provider or adviser has since gone out of business, you may have a claim with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS protects consumers when financial firms fail. If a UK-regulated adviser has given bad advice concerning a pension transfer, and the provider or advisor has since gone out of business, the FSCS may be able to pay compensation up to £85,000.
Military pension mis-selling
James was a member of the British Army. A few years ago, he received a call from a financial advisor, telling him he would be better off if he moved his military pension into a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension). James confirmed that the advisor was UK regulated, so he assumed he was receiving high-quality financial advice.
However, while a UK-regulated advisor facilitated the transfer, the scheme James invested into was based overseas. The company gave his advisor a fee for each transfer made. James would have been better sticking with his military pension, something he only realised when he retired.
Moving a military pension is rarely advisable. But prior to 2015, thousands of service personnel were targeted and persuaded to move their valuable pensions into risky, unregulated, and unsuitable private schemes and scams.
Cryptocurrency fraud
Daniel saw an advertisement for a cryptocurrency investment on social media. He clicked through to the website, which looked genuine, and which was run by a legitimate financial services company. The scheme was also endorsed by a well-known celebrity who Daniel trusted. The cryptocurrency platform offered high, guaranteed returns. Daniel was saving for a wedding, so he decided to invest his savings to help him pay for his big day.
Daniel lost all his money and has since found out that the website and the endorsement were fake. The criminals cloned the branding of a reputable company and used an imposter website to trick people into investing. He has not been able to track down the perpetrators of the fraud.
Investment Fraud & Mis-selling Compensation Experts
Defendants are smarter and better resourced than ever before. As such, when it comes to legal support, it is vital to appoint a solicitor with the experience and skill to take them on. At KP Law, our Investment Fraud & Mis-Selling team has all the expertise needed to win, even against the most aggressive defence lawyers.
We also understand that the outcome of your case is likely to have profound and long‐term consequences on your life. Providing a cool head in a crisis, we will remove the burden from your shoulders as we fight for justice. What’s more, because we offer no-win, no-fee funding arrangements, you will benefit from expert legal support and complete peace of mind without having to worry about costs.
Crucially, because we know what to look for when investigating a case, we can often substantially increase a claim’s value. Our solicitors have even won cases where victims had been told that there was little to no chance of compensation.
Investigating and pursuing claims in the UK and beyond, if you have lost money due to fraudulent or negligent investment advice, contact us in confidence to find out how we can help.
