The Serious Fraud Office announced last week that it is investigating “suspected fraud in relation to the activities of the Raedex Consortium, including the companies Buy2Let Cars, PayGo Cars, Raedex trading as Wheels4Sure and Rent2Own Cars”.
One individual has been arrested and another interviewed. Two residential properties were searched.
The identity of the individual arrested, and why the SFO suspects fraud may have occurred, is yet to be revealed.
Having closed to new investment in February, gone bust in March, and been raided by the Serious Fraud Office in April, Buy2letcars is shaping up to be the most dramatic collapse of an unregulated investment scheme since London Capital and Finance collapsed in 2019.
The speed of developments stands in marked contrast to the 8-year period in which Buy2letcars was allowed to market itself to investors as a “recession inflation and stagnation proof” investment (2012 website copy).
As late as May 2020 it was promoting itself in Peer2Peer Finance News with a two page spread, claiming a “zero per cent default rate” and that the scheme should be considered by “investors who have been frustrated by low savings rates and stock market volatility”, despite the reality that anyone who can’t put up with the volatility of mainstream stockmarket investments certainly doesn’t have the risk tolerance for investing in obscure unlisted loss-making nano-cap companies.