Exmount Commercial Developments (a trading name of Exmount Construction Limited) offered 3 and 5 year bonds paying 9.12% and 10.35% per year. I reviewed the bonds in April 2018.
According to both investors and Jade State Wealth, Exmount Construction has stopped paying interest and is failing to respond to phone calls.
Jade State Wealth had been hired by Exmount to act as Security Trustee. However, according to Jade State, Exmount failed to comply with anti-money-laundering and liquidity requirements and consequently Jade State withdrew its services in February 2018.
According to Jade State, Exmount has continued to solicit investment regardless while still telling people that the investment was overseen by Jade State. Some of them have fruitlessly contacted Jade State asking where their money is.
A request for comment from myself last week went unanswered. Exmount’s website, exmountcommercial.com, remains up at time of writing. It contains little information and in fact some of it (notably a Complaints Policy) has been copy and pasted from Wellesley.
Exmount bonds were promoted by Amir Damoussi via his company Asset Backed Investments for up to 40% commission. Asset Backed Investments was shut down by the Insolvency Service in May 2019.
Over the past year or so there have been numerous changes to the people in charge at Exmount, according to Companies House. At the time of my review the sole director was Joey Mason. Mason stepped down in May 2018 and was replaced by Ousama Moufid, who was replaced in December 2018 by Elmeki Boukhris, who was replaced in April 2019 by Diana Mahay, who after a Lady-Jane-Grey-like reign of three and a half weeks was replaced by Rakesh Raj, who *breathe* remains director at time of writing.
The ownership of Exmount passed between the directors at the same times, although a confirmation statement has not been filed for Elmeki Boukhris’ brief reign.
At the end of May Rakesh Raj filed micro-company accounts which showed no creditors. This has clearly come as news to the people who thought they had invested in its bonds.
What all this has to do with Exmount Construction going AWOL, and whether any of these people actually exist, is anyone’s guess.
A few days ago Exmount changed its address back to the notorious 2 Woodberry Grove, London. Exmount was formed by a company formations outfit, A1 Company Service, which created numerous off-the-peg companies which were later acquired by binary options and forex scams. Exmount, like all these companies, started life at 2 Woodberry Grove, the home of Barbara Kahan, a former director of A1 who is now 88 years old (if she is still alive).
A1 Company Services is not accused of any wrongdoing as it is not their problem what people do with the companies it forms after buying them. Why Exmount has changed its address back to 2 Woodberry Grove is unclear.
What should I do if I invested with Exmount Construction?
Investors who are owed money by an unregulated firm and aren’t being paid have two practical options: 1) seek legal advice from a registered solicitor, and risk throwing good money after bad, or 2) write it off and forget about it.
If investors are cold-called by anyone claiming they can get their money back from Exmount in return for “legal fees” or “admin fees” or any other payment by the investor, it is a scam. Reputable solicitors do not cold call, and administrators collect their fees from the company, not creditors.