Investment company had vanished !!

[geek84]

Hi Folks

My elderly father invested a large sum of money (against everyone's advice) and now nobody knows where they are !!

He originally invested in a company called Anglo Manganese which somehow merged into a company called Benefication PLC. He has never received any dividends from them . Their phone lines are debt and all mail sent has been redirected back to him.

Could someone kindly advice what he needs to do in order to track down the owners of these companies and get his investment back?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Nozzle]

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08617364

Check out the office? (3rd Floor, 207 Regent Street, London, England, W1B 3HH and/or 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, England, N1 7GU)

"Mary Farrell" is a director associated with both companies.

How did your father come to know of this "investment" opportunity?

Nozzle

 

[bernardgreen]

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08617364
provides details of the comapny

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08617364/officers
lists directors past and present

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09319177/officers
A company also wound up but with the same director Edward Rice

Only one director shown as active.

9 officers / 8 resignations
RICE, Edward David Charles
Correspondence address
3rd, Floor, 207 Regent Street, London, England, W1B 3HH
Role Active
Director
Date of birth
November 1963
Appointed on
23 July 2013
Nationality
British
Country of residence
United Kingdom
Occupation
Businessman

 

[JohnD]

Benefication PLC.

doesn't appear to be listed.
https://markets.ft.com/data/search?query=Benefication+PLC

If you mean he bought shares in them, was it through some kind of Investment adviser or stockbroker?

 

[Nozzle]

It's a typo. 0/10 for detective work.

Nozzle

 

[JohnD]

It's a typo.

what is?

 

[Nozzle]

what is?

Beneficiation PLC ≠ Benefication PLC

(https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09713863)

Nozzle

 

[JohnD]

still not listed

https://markets.ft.com/data/search?query=BENEFICIATION+PLC&country=&assetClass=

 

[Doggit]

Regrettably, I would suggest you won't receive anything from this company unless you look to sue the directors for malfeasance in a public office. Anglo went into receivership in 2015, and Beneficiation only has 2 shares issued, so your father won't have an interest in it. What gave the impression that his investment had been transferred to it.

If you read the accountants reports and other documentation for both companies, the money has disappeared, and will never be recovered I'm afraid.

I think you need to call the police and report this as a fraud, and to contact companies house and report the directors to see if the can be struck off.

 

[transam]

A scam & he will not see a penny of it. Sad but true.

 

[JohnD]

It would be useful to know if he was contacted by a share-pushing company. These are usually cold callers and are not authorised financial advisers. There is a faint chance that they can be traced and are criminals. I don't see any reason to think that the companies named have any responsibility, unless they were somehow involved in pushing the shares.

It's a common scam.

you probably know already, but
https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/how-avoid-investment-pension-scams#header

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/all-investment-cold-calls-are-fraud-mfv3klfs3

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/scams-fraud/phone-scams/

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-tel...-nuisance-calls-and-messages/investment-scams

 

[Doggit]

If you read the first set of accounts for Anglo, it doesn't make for good reading, and is so dodgy, that it suggest the directors knew what they were up to. It also looks like shares were only issued to the directors, or those who did receive shares weren't recorded as having any

 

[JohnD]

There are plenty of companies whose shares are practically or wholly worthless. If you can convince somebody that the shares are actually worth £10 each, and you are willing to sell them for £5 (why would anyone do that?) then the mark may think he is getting a bargain. The boiler room might even produce a glossy brochure called a Stock Analysts Report that claims the shares are about to rocket in price and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

BHS or Capita have shares that fell like a stone. They may have nothing to do with the scam. The trick is to have something that your mark doesn't know the value of, and make him overpay. It would work just as well if you found somebody willing to buy cut Christmas trees in January.

 

[Nozzle]

still not listed

https://markets.ft.com/data/search?query=BENEFICIATION+PLC&country=&assetClass=

Follow my link, Companies House recognises them and even share one of the same directors.

 

[JohnD]

but it's not a listed company in the sense that it is listed on the stock exchange and you can look up the price of its shares.

If you could (and you knew how) you could find out their current market price and buy as many as you wanted for a fee of less than £10. Presumably at a price lower that the crook tells you they are worth. You could also look up news, results and financial outline at the click of a button.

You can't do that for Jack Jones (Butcher) Ltd, which is why you don't know what shares in his company are worth.

Mrs Agnes Jones (his widow) might own ten thousand shares in the company and offer to sell them to you for £10 each. The company might be worthless, and not worth the cost of winding up.