Rancor continues to circle the crumbling Carlauren Group.
Carlauren, reviewed here in April 2018, raised money from investors promising 10% per year returns from investment in care homes. The company run out of money to pay investors in February 2019, and its collapse has meant frail and elderly care home residents being ejected with 24 hours’ notice, and hotel properties left to rot.
On the public Facebook group Sandown Hub, a resident of Sandown noticed that one of its former introducers, One Touch Property Investment (officially One Touch Solution Ltd), was apparently continuing to sell units in its care home.
One Touch clarified that it was no longer selling Carlauren investments. In the ensuing thread, it revealed that it has approached a “fraud litigation solicitor” on behalf of investors to pursue Carlauren over “misrepresentation”.
(The conversation below took place in the public domain, in a public Facebook group, but personal names have been blanked as a courtesy.)
Angry clients of One Touch queried One Touch’s own role, accusing it of taking 10% of Carlauren investors’ money in commission.
One Touch did not deny taking 10% in commission, though it did dispute a supposed accusation that it made “millions” (no investor actually mentions “millions” in the thread).
What One Touch’s company records actually show is: not a lot. The company has consistently used small company exemptions and does not publish its profit and loss account via Companies House, meaning that how much One Touch received for selling Carlauren investments is unknown.
Several investors suggested One Touch should refund to investors the commission it made from selling Carlauren investments. One Touch did not respond to these requests.
Administration update
Three Carlauren entities are already in administration, with Quantuma LLP appointed as administrators: Carlauren Lifestyle Resorts, Carlauren Care and Accordiant. The latter was responsible for the committment to pay returns of 10% per year to investors.
Quantuma recently revealed, in their initial report into Accordiant, that they have applied for the wider Carlauren group into administration. As at September 2019 an initial hearing had been adjourned, and the Administrators are awaiting a hearing date.
In the meantime, director Sean Murray has been required “to give undertakings to the Court that each of the respondent companies’ assets will not be disposed of or dealt with in any way other than the ordinary course of business”.
Carlauren’s directors are opposing their application to put the wider Carlauren Group into administration and have challenged the validity of the current Administration.
Carlauren itself is adopting either an ostrich or “lights are on but nobody’s home” approach to the administration. Carlaurengroup.com now redirects to carlaurenlifestyle.com, which makes no mention of the administration.