Paul Careless
I am interested to read that former policeman Paul Careless, founder of Surge, has been hit by a restraining order by the High Court on the proceeds of the sale of his house pending the outcome of a case against of London Capital issuing Blackmore and other minibonds
We have known about this man for some time. Back in March 2018, Angie Brooks informed us
In 2017, Careless’ company Surge Group offered £3,000 in sponsorship to the Kent Police rugby team. This was accepted, but then he tried to change the sponsor from Surge Group to Blackmore Bond. And Blackmore Global started claiming on their website to be “Proud supporters of Kent Police Rugby Team”. So why would Careless – himself an ex-police officer – try to con the police and also get into bed with Nunn and McCreesh?
Nunn and McCreesh were the serial fraudsters behind London Capital. The Financial Times – in reporting on Surge and Careless’ demise – tells us
The detail
A High Court judge on Monday said he would impose asset restrictions on Paul Careless, who is accused of being a main beneficiary of one of the UK’s biggest retail savings scandals in recent years. Careless is among a group of individuals being sued by administrators to the failed financial services firm London Capital & Finance.
Almost 12,000 individual investors were promised high returns through “minibonds” offered by LCF, but lost a total of £237mn when it collapsed in 2019. Victims had been directed to LCF by Surge Financial, an online marketing company established by Careless that received commissions of 25 per cent for each referral. The claimants have alleged Careless himself netted about £11.9mn.
Close to home – we should have known.
I am happy to have no connection with Careless and Surge, but when I access his linked in profile, I find many of my friends are. Surge was a plausible business, Careless a plausible business man but the judge clearly thought that beneath the covers, the man was ruining lives.
They should have been paying attention to Angie Brooks in 2018 when she wrote
This new threat to unwary investors has been analysed by Bond Review. Just to be clear, many people were duped into investing their pensions in the Blackmore Global UCIS fund – which has never published an independent audit. We now have a second threat offered by Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh. Blackmore Bond PLC is promoting these unregulated, capital-at-risk bonds which purport to pay up to 8.5% per annum – but with potential for total loss. How many more people will this high-risk bond ruin financially?
BLACKMORE BOND – SHAKEN OR STIRRED – CARELESS OR STUPID?
Surge was the marketing agency behind LCF and Blackmore’s highly successful campaign. The FT tells us
Administrators have described LCF as “a Ponzi scheme”, and said that while the firm purported to use the funds raised to provide much-needed finance to small and medium-sized enterprises, those it had lent to were not independent but were connected with people behind the firm.
While we await…
The wheels of justice grind slow and the proceeds that the restraining order baulks were to pay the £2m legal bill run up by Careless. The FT reports that the lawyers may not now be paid .
We await the outcome of the ruling on London Capital & Finance, those who collectively lost £237m from the firm’s collapse may see the proceeds of the sale of Careless’ Gloucestershire home in a different light.
