Friday 29 May 2009

Two Arrests in £50 million Investment Fund Fraud


Police probing a  
£50million-plus fund management fraud centered around three disgraced financial institutions made dawn raids in London and Surrey resulting in the arrests of two suspects.

The companies : Business Consulting International (BCI) of 1 Relton Mews, Knightsbridge; John Anderson Consulting and Kenneth Peacock Consulting had their operations frozen by the Financial Services Authority last year and police called in.

City of London Police probing the alleged mishandling of millions of pounds of investors funds made the early morning swoops on three addresses and arrested a 40 year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and fraud by misrepresentation.

A 43 year-old man later surrendered himself to a police station within the square mile  and was also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and fraud by misrepresentation.

The FSA has also issued proceedings against three individuals linked to the consultancies for allegedly taking unlawful deposits and running an unauthorised collective investment scheme.

Det Insp David Manley, from the City of London Police, said: "We are working in partnership with the FSA to tackle this complex investment fraud that involves hundreds of victims and losses suspected to run into tens of millions of pounds.

"It is vitally important for people who have been involved with, or suspect they could be a victim of BCI, John Anderson Consulting and Kenneth Peacock Consulting to contact the City of London Police as soon as possible.

At this early stage, we would like to speak to as many of the investors as possible to maximize the opportunities for gathering evidence to provide a clearer picture to the investigation team."

Jonathan Phelan, Head of Enforcement at the FSA, said: "We are working closely with the police to help investors who might have been victims of this alleged large scale fraud. Anyone who has been in contact with these companies should get in touch with the police."

Friday 17 April 2009

Police promotions up for grabs in Tomlinson death case


Police insiders claim senior officers will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of "crucifying" the riot cop caught on video shoving newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson to the ground during the G20 protest in the City.

"Stage one was damage limitation," revealed a Met P.C. "The shutters would have come down and the case probably successfully covered up, but the video evidence has put an end to that."

Now a second post-mortem has confirmed the cause of death as internal bleeding with the officer involved being quizzed in relation to manslaughter.

"It is common knowledge some senior officers see crucifying fellow officers as the quickest way to promotion," added the cop. "It will be a few more pips on the shoulder for whoever is involved in either prosecuting the officer or leading the enquiry."

Mr Tomlinson,47, died a few minutes after an unnamed riot cop first struck him from behind with a baton then violently shoved him to the pavement during the April 1 anti-capitalism demo.

The official Home Office Pathologist Dr. Freddy Patel's initial post-mortem resulted in the cause of death given as heart failure.

A second pathologist, Dr. Nat Cary, called in by the Independent Police Complaints Commission disagreed and ruled Mr Tomlinson died from an abdominal haemorrhage.

That finding and the damning video is a nightmare for the Met who now have a cause celebre on their hands and the prospect of a high-profile criminal court case or inquest with the prospect of a jury returning an unlawful killing verdict.

The officer caught on video, a member of the so-called elite Territorial Support Group, reportedly collapsed at home with a panic attack after the video came to light and is currently on sick leave.