The BBC’s You and Yours consumer affairs programme reports that multiple investors in Dolphin Trust (known as Generic Property Group, sorry German Property Group, since April 2019) are months late in receiving the repayment of their capital.
According to the investors who allege late payment, the repayment problems appear to have begun in the second half of 2018.
The investors were sold the Dolphin bonds by salesmen who were being paid commission of up to 20%.
Charity worker Samantha Hields had saved up a pension of £16,000 and, after being made redundant, was given an offer she could not refuse.
A salesman called her out of the blue and told her she could boost her savings by lending the money, securely, to a company redeveloping listed German buildings into luxury flats.
“He said it would double my money, and my money would be safe, as long as I was happy to invest it for five years,” she says.
She was expecting the money to be paid back to her in September last year. So far, she says she has not seen a penny and has not been given any information about what has happened to it.
The BBC also alleges that work has not started on some of Dolphin’s buildings despite Dolphin having owned them for many years. Dolphin intends to fund returns to investors (and its high commission levels) by redeveloping German buildings.
Visits to those buildings by Anna Kluehspies, a reporter from the German public broadcaster BR, found that although one was finished, and another was near completion, no work had been started on the rest, despite them being owned by GPG for more than five years.
Separately, another property not on the list of those supposedly in Project 80, a Bavarian monastery, was purchased by Dolphin in 2017 for €1m is located in Schonthal, a rural village close to the border with the Czech Republic.
The mayor of the town, Ludwig Wallinger, told Radio 4 he was disappointed with the lack of engagement he has had from Dolphin since it took it on.
“Strangely, Dolphin never came to look at this building before they paid for it,” he says.
“The last time I heard from anyone was in spring 2018, when they asked me what I thought they could do with it.
“They suggested perhaps luxury apartments, to which I laughed, because this area just does not have the market for upmarket flats.”
Dolphin states that 20% of its investors are affected by the delays. It also states that it now pays a lower rate of commission.
GPG responded to You & Yours’ investigation saying that the investors’ money is safe. Investors’ capital is not at risk, because it is secured against property on the German Land Register, it says.
It says only 20% of its customers are affected by delays on projects, which have been caused by various issues with planning and construction work.
Addresses are not always provided to investors, it adds, because that information is not always relevant. However it says it does plan to provide customers with addresses in the future.
It adds that there is no legal obligation to inform loan customers if funds are reallocated to new properties.
Dolphin says it is currently involved in real estate investments of 60 properties. There are currently delays in 10, they say for the other 50 everyone will get their money back on time.
GPG also says introducers are now paid a lower rate of commission.
In February 2019 – in other words, months after the investors in the BBC article allege they were due to be paid back and weren’t – a number of former Dolphin Trust staff formed Grounds Investments plc.
Dolphin CEO Charles Smethurst, CFO Thomas Prax, and director Christopher Moss, have all either served as directors or have held shareholdings (direct or indirect) in Grounds.
Like Dolphin, Grounds Investments plc invests in German property.
Grounds Investments plc is itself not regulated by the FCA, but offers an ISA product via Nicola Horlick’s Money & Co, which is.
Christopher Moss seems to be a director of “Money & Co Portfolio Limited” with Horlick and registered at the Grounds address , a very busy man he must be !!!?
Might be worth checking the facts, such a deluded reporter and did not check the facts from the Mayor and his political reasoning and actually what he has done.
The client mentioned owns a major aviation business so i would think she knew the risk as googled her…. has she been repaid???
I went to Germany and saw the properties INCLUDING the one i am securitised against, i saw the security document, i listened to the reason for delays and as a responsible investor i totally disagree with the BBC and its leftwing views in sensationalising. I told them they were wrong before the programme went out but my statement was also ignored.
property can be delayed.
Wow! Kudos for going to that level of effort to check out your investment… How much of your returns has that trip wiped out?
Whether Schönthal has a market for luxury flats or not only becomes a fact at the point Dolphin Trust has successfully built them, sold them and repaid investors. Until then it’s speculation.
Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t. Owning an aviation business does not make you an expert on business lending any more than being a banker makes you an expert on flying planes.
But these are reported as being five-year loan notes, not open-ended investments, in which case the redemption date can’t be delayed unilaterally.
However if investors don’t want to enforce their right to repayment, das ist eine freie Land.
Invested in Dolphin 5 years, should have been paid Sept 2018!!!!
invested for 5 years in a sipp pension. should have paid up in march. dolphin trust now have a uk pr office who are very reassuring and urge a little more patience.
I’ve got a 5 year investment with Dolphin, was due a yield last October and another again in April this year and to date have still not been paid, almost as worrying is the total lack of communication or information from Dolphin.
I have invested with Dolphin a few times and been repaid. I knew brokers earned high commissions, but so what if I also received between 10 – 13 % per annum?
I have also been out to Berlin and Leipzig to see their properties and spoken to tenants who now live in some of them.
I have also met with their head lawyer and understood the end to end business model Charles Smethurst developed, to attract end sales from German taxpayers, and am assured this is not a scam business like the sensationalist news reports it to be.
It is not like LCF for example, and there is a very real risk that poor reporting puts all non-regulated loans in the UK in the same boat.
Lending is a great way to improve your returns and – with good due diligence and some asset security – is no more risky than equities (which is what most of the public choose to speculate in).
Wish people would look at the facts, before jumping on the bandwagon.
If Dolphin Trust is indeed able to generate consistent 16% per year returns (to turn £80 into £165 in five years) from renovating East German properties, then bully for you.
Looking at buildings and talking to some dude who lives in a flat is not due diligence.
Since we’re both keen on due diligence, when you flew out to Berlin and Leipzig, what impression did you get when you and your advisers inspected Dolphin Trust’s up-to-date independently audited accounts, asset valuations and future cashflow models?
Feel free to point out any facts that have been omitted by either the BBC or myself. The facts are that Dolphin is defaulting on its 5 year loans for “a limited number of investors” by not repaying their capital at the agreed time, something it has itself admitted and apologised for in a letter to its introducers. The fact that you have been paid on time (so far?) doesn’t change that.
I suspect that some posters here are from Dolphin trust . In 2014 there was a regulated broker in Ireland who visited the the company and sites . I was told they were looking to have the company regulated by the Central Bank and she was impressed by the visit .Dolphin Trust have no office in Ireland and is not regulated .
Cash Investors were also supposed to have received letters from GPG, explaining it could take a further 12 months to be paid. Some of these people are already 8-10 months after their ‘maturity dates’. I am very concerned that the GPG ‘press release’ is just a delaying tactic and BS frankly. Possibly, whilst Smethurst and Co find suitable bolt holes. Dolphin(GPG) communications have always been an issue and now they seem to have cut off altogether, referring to ‘Customer Relations’. CR are just as bad, or worse even and, I fear, have no answers. Disgusted that they are still promoting ‘investments’. Totally unethical outfit, methinks.
I got scammed in to investigate with a company called servitude who then invested my pension fund with dolphin I have been trying for over a year to get my pension fund back now they say due to dolphin rereading it could be another year before anything is forthcoming, to me they all seem like robbing, thieving, scamming pikes who have no intent on paying anyone any thing
Late interest payments without prior notification, an eventual letter that interested payments would be delayed but maturity date will remain, no other communication from them until I called last week 3rd October 2019 to see how maturity date was going as I had read about delays. Only then was I informed my January 2020 maturity date would be delayed up to 12 months. Asked what had caused it they said last year new legislation came out with German Land Registry which causes 6 months delay in registrations this has had a knock-on effect. I challenged them that if that were the case the company would have been aware that their business model would be affected so why did they not inform Noteholders such as myself, their response was that up to June 2019 they have been able to make all interest payments so since I was not due until July they would not have known. My response to that was…. how can a company such as theirs operate on a month by month basis not knowing what income is due. I asked the person who I spoke to last Thursday to email me their full name and position as agents of the German Group as it was truly an ‘us and them’ conversation which to me if one is one’s agent they are representing them and the semantics of their operating lines need not be separated to me as a client so for that reason I asked for details of names in the German Group who could maybe give me more detailed update of their true financial position as to whether my money was secure or not so I can plan my financial position. Waited Friday nothing, waiting until lunchtime Monday 7th nothing so I called them no answer and left a message. Half an hour later Mike Boil called and stated he had me down to call anyway which unfortunately I disbelieved given their track record in communication. I asked why Liam had not emailed me he said because ‘ I asked him not to due to that fact I would call you’ I said did seem odd though since again it was I who had to prompt the call, after a none productive telephone conversation where he was telling me that he was on a flight back from some faraway land and heavy schedule that really I should be grateful he has called as normally he doesn’t have time for one to one clients the conversation really didn’t go anywhere and I was none the wiser. I have asked for details of our Security Trustees which he had no idea who they might be and said would come back to me by the end of play today with whether he was able to find/provide them or otherwise.
What has been the update. Did you get the security info. I am having the same issues that you describe above.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/504072293505427/
This is a closed group for dolphin/ gpg investors ONLY
Hi Jay
They came back to me with these
Ladon Intertrust Treuhandgesellschaft mbH
Otto-Brenner-Straße 209
33604 Bielefeld
Now these were written on the German part of the agreement and Mike O’DWYER clearly written in the English part , however they say that he no longer plays the part of trustee in this investment. Iam waiting for names behind the German Trustees as I said I wasn’t happy with ‘just a faceless company name and there has to be people who have taken the responsibility that the name trustees suggest I have given them until the 18th October to provide this information having given them a week. By now the security trustees should be involved and taking steps to a resolution and informing note holders.
I am finding it impossible to get any info from these people. Send me a personal message on [email protected] and we can have a private chat.
Hi Jay – Not getting anywhere I gave them one week to come back to me with Trustees names an office address is all well and good but who are these people. There response via email to me is that they have not had the information back yet. So I emailed them back asking why would it need to be via written communication why would not one of them pick up the telephone and simply get that information especially Mike Boil who heads the team I have had no response since. I will contact you via your email address we do need to gather all investors asap and get some momentum going because reading what I have read on here investors have gone way past their maturity dates with no communication what so ever about anything which is simply not on