Premier FX scandal hits the Portuguese press

The Attorney General's Office has confirmed that a complaint has been received relating to the closure of Premier FX, the Algarve based foreign exchange company, owned and managed by Peter Rextrew (pictured, left), that shut up shop in July leaving hundreds of customers without access to their money which, at things stand at the moment, is missing from the Barclays account where it was meant to be safeguarded.

An investigation by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action in Faro has started, with the company now formally being administered by Geoffrey Martin & Co in the UK. The case has been reported in the mainstream Portuguese press by journalist, Paulo Zacarias Gomes writing in Visão, HERE

The state of the company’s finances, despite cheery messages that all was well and it’s business as usual, came to light when a notice was posted on the Premier FX website saying all trading had ceased as of July 27th and all funds were frozen.

Five weeks later, the financial black hole at Barclays was outlined by the administrators who said they were endeavoring to trace any remaining funds while confirming none of the money was covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which had been promoted in the corporate literature to engender a feeling of coinfidence.

Peter Rexstrew died after heart surgery on June 16th in a Lisbon hospital. Two days later, his children Katy Grogan and Charles Rexstrew became Directors of Premier FX Ltd and later shut down the business, failing to communicate with desperate customers, some of whom have been denied access to hundreds of thousands in euros and Sterling.

Barclays Bank in London continued to accept money transferred by customers. The Bank claims it did not know the status of Premier FX at the time, nor did the Bank have separate ring-fenced accounts for each customer, allowing one account to be used to receive all deposits with full access to the tota available to the company’s Director.

"We found that Premier FX did not keep customers' money in individual accounts," said Peter Hart, one of the two managers at Geoffrey Martin & Co.

The article by Visão is well informed as it notes the letter, sent by a small firm of Solicitors in Derbyshire to The Resident, albeit addressed ‘To Whom it may Concern,’ describes the two current Directors as having been "threatened with physical violence," "fed in large part by misleading press articles," and that any further attempts to contact Katy Grogan or Charles Rextrew or members of their families by the company's creditors or customers will be interpreted as "harassment" and reported to the authorities.

Making out the Directors are the victims drew sharp criticism. HERE

In December 2016, Peter Rexstrew also was controlling Global Currency Services Ltd. A message on the company website states that it has decided to suspend business due to the death of the owner and that "we will notify you when matters become clearer."

That a financial services company has been allowed to operate in Portugal without the involvement of the Portuguese authorities is a refreshing aspect of the European free market but the lack of cover offered by some foreign exchange companies, largely serving the foreign community, has been highlighted by the collapse of Premier FX whose customers have lost a total that may never accurately be added up.

The Portuguese authorities are staring at the wide open door of an empty stable. The actions government now is able to take will be legislative rather than compensatory.

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For a Sky News report, click HERE

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