Basset & Gold files 2018 accounts; just under £30 million raised from investors

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Basset & Gold has filed its accounts for the year ending September 2018.

Basset & Gold is now one of the UK's most visible issuers of unregulated bonds, thanks to its sponsorship of Premier League football team West Ham United.

It currently offers a one-year "Fixed Monthly Income Pensioner Bond" paying 4.24% over the year a 3-year IFISA paying 6.12% per year, and a 5-year IFISA paying 8.15%. All are capital at risk investments that, like any loan to a micro-cap unlisted company, have a risk of up to 100% loss.

According to its accounts, it now owes just under £30 million to investors, up from £13 million in 2017.

Its net assets position is slightly above water at £233,784.

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Johnny Mercer MP blasts coverage of his Surge non-exec role as a conspiracy against him

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Several weeks after his £350-an-hour non-executive position in Crucial Academy was exposed, which was formerly part of the Surge group of companies which promoted London Capital & Finance, high-flying Johnny Mercer MP has finally broken his silence.

Today the BBC has explicitly connected Mercer's salary to LCF. Previously, while it was a matter of public record that Crucial Academy was part of the Surge group of companies, no one had been brave enough to trace a direct financial link between Mercer and LCF.

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The LCF scandal was preventable. Here are 3 things we can do to stop the next London Capital & Finance

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~ Brev ~ 1 Comment

A basic principle of law is that anyone who wants to take part in an activity that poses a high risk to the public should be regulated. If you want to own firearms for sport, drive a car, or offer investment securities to the public, you need to register yourself with the authorities. The law does not say you can't do it, but if you are going to do it, you have a duty to show you are doing it responsibly.

But did you know there is a loophole in UK firearms legislation that allows you to own a high powered assault rifle, as long as you put a sticker on it saying "This Is Not An Assault Rifle"? And that even if you start walking around in public waving your not-an-assault-rifle in people's faces, the police will take no action until people start getting hurt?

No there isn't, because that would be utterly ridiculous. Yet this is the situation that UK legislation allows in the offering of unregulated investments to the public.

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Carlauren Group steals our content and launches fake DMCA takedown

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Previously we have reviewed Carlauren Group's care home investments offering 10% per year and Carlauren's C-Coin cryptocurrency investment, which Carlauren claims will jump in value by 170% as soon as they have sold £35 million worth (current sales as at April 2019: £3,290).

Carlauren hasn't been particularly happy with my coverage, previously sending its former Head of Marketing into the comments to make vague accusations about "significant inaccuracies" without actually pointing any out.

Their unhappiness has now escalated into perjury.

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Investment schemes run by former Bury FC chairman collapse; administrator predicts total losses for investors

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Mederco, headed by Stewart Day, operated a number of unregulated property investment schemes.

In one, Mederco built out 160 flats in Appleton Point, Bradford, and sold the flats to a wider number of investors, with a guaranteed yield of 9% for five years, and an agreement to buy back the flats at an uplifted price.

The freehold of Appleton Point was sold in May 2015 to E & J Ground Rents No 1 LLP for £850,000, who subsequently leased the basement car park back to Mederco for 999 years at a peppercorn rent. Mederco then sold the car parking spaces to another batch of investors for £9,995 each, again for a guaranteed yield of 9% for five years with an uplifted buy-back after that.

In another, Mederco leased 258 car parking spaces from Bury Football Club for 24 years, and then sold sub-leases in the parking spaces to investors for £9,995. Mederco committed to paying the investors 9% per year for 5 years.

Both these investments collapsed when HMRC issued a winding-up petition, claiming £605,000 in unpaid VAT on the car parking spaces. Day then appointed administrators.

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Store First court case kicks off: Government alleges £200m “house of cards”

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The court case brought by Business Secretary Greg Clark against unregulated storage pod investment scheme Store First kicked off in Manchester's Business and Property Court on Monday.

Representing the Secretary of State, Paul Chaisty QC alleged that Store First raised £206 million from investors on the basis of "misleading information and testimonials”. The Government believes that Store First and related companies should be wound up to protect investors.

Store First insists that the scheme is viable and that winding the business up would cause investors to lose their money.

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