Peter Hart, joint administrator at PKF Geoffrey Martin & Co, has confirmed that the situation at Premier FX is at the bottom end of dire, with the clients’ account at Barclays, pretty much drained.
There are no signs of any funds with which to repay hundreds of loyal Premier FX customers. The joint administrator says he is looking to see if funds are held by third parties but many customers, now at the end of their financial tethers, are not longer holding their breath.
In a letter posted on the Premier FX Victims Facebook page, Hart writes:
"The credit balances currently held by Barclays are minimal
"Barclays were not instructed by the company to hold pre-transaction funds in segregated individual accounts
"We are investigating whether funds are currently held with any third parties
"At this stage there would appear to be a significant shortfall to customers
"As for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Premier FX did not carry out a FSCS-Protected business, so FSCS is unable to compensate for any shortfalls in Premier FX customers’ money, however deserving the cases."
One PremierFX victim, posted on Facebook, “Well that's it house down the pan, 22,000 Euro deposit gone and legal fees to pay. Life savings gone, will not be moving to portugal now, our adventure is over before it begun. Close to £300,000 defrauded by the Rextrew's.”
Another customer questions Barclay’s role, “Barclays should know the rules. They knew they were a money exchange company so they should have ensured the account was segregated from other accounts.”
In addition to the shock of the collapse of the business in July, subsequent to the death of founder Peter Rexstrew on June 16th, customers were appalled at the lack of information issued by the company since its closure on July 20th.
Rextrew's children, the two directors of the company appointed after his death, went to ground, as did the former managing director of the business, Nick Jones despite issuing a cheery message that all was well with the business.
Many clients in Portugal already are affected and, unless significant funds are traced by the joint administrators, will be receiving as close to zero as makes no odds.
Comments
Most unfortunate gn. Very sorry to hear, but thank you for your dignified response and for sharing this information with ADN & it’s readership.
At the very least it should act as a warning to others, myself included - not that this is of any real consolation to your good self of course.
The "Jungle is Gibraltar where the shares were purchased on my behalf by an intermediary who also vanished and my claim was not allowed.
What an interesting & informative link Mr Park (notwithstanding the cryptic nature of your post!)
Hopefully gn has received (or is still entitled to receive) the full compensation package to which he or she is entitled from N&P ie all the £325k capital plus interest. It would be good to know that this story has not ended in tears, which was the distinct impression I got from gn’s original post, prior to your intervention .......
Very sorry to hear that gn.
I hope N & P were properly authorised to give you such investment advice? Keydata Investment Services specialised in creating “innovative” high income products and including “structured” products. On the basis that, ‘if it looks too good to be true it probably is’ and, on the ‘high reward, high risk’ theory, such providers maybe best avoided for the majority.
I am highly risk averse at my time of life and always aim to place funds with institutions where there is some measure of protection eg the Uk financial services compensation scheme or it’s EU equivalent, registration with the Financial Conduct Authority etc, checking out any professional firms I use as best I can, to ensure they are suitably qualified, authorised and most importantly, have accountable and secure Client Account procedures in place.
Appropriate research into Premier FX should have rung some alarm bells.
All I am saying is, that the risks are there, so be very cautious & do your homework first to at least minimise that risk. At least you have then done your best to stay safe
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12819926
only diff with esparto santo was the govt bailed them out, I cannot see that happening with premier. For me its more common sense not to deal with small firms that larger outfits
You can still get ripped off as I did when I took the advice of my building society the Norwich and Peterborough and invested £325k in Keydata Investments Services. My money and millions more vanished with the company's founder who also died, supposdly in the Brazilian jungle, although proof of his death has never been verified.
Sorry to be pedantic, especially if you have lost money, but what you describe is "teeming and lading" not a Ponzi scheme. However, t&l by a limited company is illegal in the UK.
If in any doubt whatsoever, don’t!
Don’t just assume that the service provider is suitably registered so that your cash is adequately protected - despite what they may say on their website. Always check out their particulars including their registration number with the organisation that is protecting your money - all these details should be on that organisation’s website.
In the absence of such concrete evidence, continue your research elsewhere.
Sadly, the individual who operated this apparent Ponzi scheme and others, rely on people being uninformed or time poor. Be astute and trust no one.