A Smooth Commercial client has been interviewed by the BBC in relation to the Dolphin Trust investment scandal.
View the full report here:
Credit: BBC Breakfast, Mark Bennett - YouTube
A recent news report from BBC News covered the ongoing Dolphin Trust/German Property Group scandal. Sarah Corker, Consumer Affairs Correspondent at BBC News, interviewed Mark Bennett about his experience with Dolphin. Mr Bennett is a Smooth Commercial client.
After being made redundant, Mr Bennett decided to invest his whole pension into Dolphin Trust. He invested £279,000, his entire savings, from his pension fund. He hasn't received the promised returns, and has since had to sell the family home.
Smooth Commercial Law are still fighting for Mark Bennett, and many others like him, to get the best possible result, which could include getting a sum of money back.
A recent investigation by Radio 4’s "You and Yours" Programme has estimated £1billion is owed to Dolphin Trust investors all over the world.
Who are The Dolphin Trust/German Property Group?
The Dolphin Trust is an investment scheme that specialised in the refurbishment of listed buildings in Germany. The Dolphin Trust, as it was known in April 2019, claimed to buy derelict buildings in prime locations which it then redevelops into luxury apartments. It is now known as German Property Group (GPG).
Through UK financial advisors and introducers, the GPG has borrowed an estimated £600m from UK investors via SIPPs and SASSs. They told these investors that their money would be safe because of the “First Legal Charge” they would get against the property – a document which entitles the investor to claim their money back from the sale of the property if the borrower fails to repay. As far as we are aware, not one client received their supposed “First Legal Charge”.
The Dolphin Trust/German Property Group hit headlines in May 2019 when a BBC report found that many investors had not received any of the returns on investment they had been promised.
Many of the investors who have lost money are not experienced investors and have invested their entire life savings into GPG. The BBC report tells of warehouse worker, Roy from Kent, who transferred £35,000 from his pension and expected to receive money back in March 2019. This never came true and the investor had potentially lost the entirety of his pension. Unfortunately, this story is just one of many.
How can Smooth Commercial Law help?
Are you a Dolphin Trust/German Property Group investor? We may be able to help.
If you think you are the victim of a mis-sold SIPP from The Dolphin Trust, or if your SIPP is not performing as you were told it should be, then please get in touch with our specialist mis-sold SIPP solicitors to see if we can claim compensation for you.
At Smooth Commercial Law, our team of experts have experience in dealing with a whole manner of claims that arise from negligent, fraudulent and/or unsuitable financial advice, including unsuitable transfers from pensions. We are seeing an increase in claims for mis-sold pensions and unsuitable investments, and have managed to secure compensation for many of our clients.
Should you have a claim for negligent financial advice, we can deal with your case and look to recover compensation for not just your loss of investment but also any adverse tax liabilities that you may now be facing as well.
You can contact our experienced team by calling 0800 046 9976 or by emailing sb@smooth-commercial-law.co.uk.