Thanks to Sue Flood for putting me on to the conversation between Paul Lewis and Russ Ferris- a victim of pension liberation fraud after leaving Royal Mail and now a firefighter being pursued by HMRC – 11 years after the fraud took place
Russ Ferris has always paid his taxes. Taxes pay for frontline services
You can hear his conversation with Paul here
Caroline Noakes told Treasury Minister Nigel Huddlestone that there should be a six months pause in HMRC activities in reclaiming the money it says is owed to it as a result of pension liberation fraud.
“It feels to me that the HMRC also have a duty to go after the people who perpetrated the frauds and not the people who are victims of the fraud who “don’t have the money!”
There aren’t many victims of this fraud , but those who are are terrified. Noakes says the victims want a clear roadmap going forward. The current situation is causing them mental and physical harm
Paul Lewis pressed Caroline Noakes on the duty of HMRC to collect taxes.
Noakes called for pragmatism as the cost of collection is greater than the tax collected
Ferris wants the six months amnesty to give him space from the “brown envelopes on the doorstep”. In the longer term he just wants to speak with HMRC on a human level. After 11 years of trouble , he sees no ethical boundaries on HMRC’s actions, with threats and menaces rather than support.
Ferris still has to go to work , still has to be a caring husband but he admits that his problems have broken him on several occasions.
The Treasury’s message is to contact HMRC as soon as possible to speak with them. The conversations between Noakes and the Treasury are due to resume in February.
What can be done?
We are hoping to have comment on the situation from Margaret at 10.30am on Tuesday as she should be in conversation with me. Margaret’s participation is currently in doubt as she has pressing family matters to attend to.
There is a pensions scams action group with a part of the Pension Regulator’s website to itself, we like to hear from them but as with Project Bloom, which preceded it , there is precious little change in the way scam victims are being treated, after many years of trying and as Russ Ferris says , the victims are not being prosecuted.
One person who is actually taking action – legal action – is Angie Brooks, whose Pension Life website and her Pension Life business operate out of Spain, on the doorsteps of many of the fraudsters. Russ was one of Angela Brooks’ first clients, along with Sue Flood.
Funny, salacious but always fiercely right, Angie has been on the side of the victims for at least the 11 years Russell Ferris has been defrauded.
I met with Angie, Sue Flood and other victims of pension fraud in a room adjacent to the courts of justice in 2018 , when HMRC were establishing their case for persecution. Also in the room was Leslie Titcomb, a most compassionate TPR CEO. Leslie cried.
In Compassion for the pension liberated. three years ago, I referenced this meeting and noted that nothing had happened since. At this time it was Jessie Norman rather than Caroline Noakes who was petitioning for clemency, Margaret was involved as was Jo Cumbo
I have tried to chronicle some of the events I have witnessed and will continue to do so. There are similarities and differences between the victims of pension liberation and of the Horizon scandal but they are united by suffering and ultimately we need to set aside dogmatism and side with common sense