The chairman of a Caribbean holiday venture has denied cheating hundreds of investors out of £260 million.
Former double-glazing salesman David Ames, 65, was chairman of Harlequin, a group of companies, which allegedly swindled mainly British investors.
Sports celebrities such as former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, TV soccer pundit and former Irish international Andy Townsend, golfer Gary Player and TV property guru Phil Spencer lent their names to bolster Harlequin’s reputation.
None of these celebrities were involved in the alleged scam that involved building resorts on the sun-kissed islands of St Vincent, St Lucia, and Barbados.
However, construction was not completed and investors who put up the cash have lost most of their money.
Four-year investigation
Ames has pleaded not guilty to three charges of fraud by abuse of position at Southwark Crown Court, London.
He was charged by detectives from the Serious Fraud Office and Essex Police in March after a four-year inquiry. A trial is scheduled to start in January 2019.
The investors paid for off-plan property with a view to earning an income from holiday letting or selling them at a profit once they were built.
Many were sold the scheme as pension investments by independent financial advisers.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is already helping investors claim compensation for bad advice from IFA firms.
Around 6,000 investors are thought to have paid cash into Harlequin, which hoped to pay a 10% annual guaranteed return which failed to materialise.
Claims for compensation
Nearly half of the investors have already received pay outs of more than £100 million.
Many of the investors were introduced to Harlequin by IFAs.
In September, the FSCS widened the net for claims to advice.
“More people may now have a claim for bad investment advice in relation to Harlequin investments, following a review by FSCS,” said a statement from the agency.
“FSCS is now widening the net to include claims for negligent advice to invest directly in Harlequin after new evidence obtained through its recoveries action shows the products are likely to be unregulated collective investment schemes.
“This paves the way for more people who may have been mis-sold a Harlequin product by their financial adviser to make a claim for compensation.”
