harlequinproperty.co.uk, is this a scam ?
 

Opened life insurance polices with Allied Crowbar years back, they changed to Zurich and the advisor changed to an independant one, proper old school, very professional and helpful but he retired and we didnt hear anything, we got a woman call us who knew a lot about our situation saying we needed a financial review, I couldnt be bothered as what we have is already invested and I dont want to top up my pension or change the life insurance.

Anyway, she was insistent even though I warned that there was little point, gave her an hour and she seemed knowledgeable and quite credible, then she went from sound advice and ideas and launched into a spiel about overseas property, now I am not averse to any risk and will consider anything but I just though it seemed to good to be true and had a whiff of timeshare, the premise was to convert some old SERPS pensions into a investment into this property, still a pension and subject to the same rules, just a different investment.

She keeps badgering, I have said I am not interested as it just doesnt feel right, she keeps mentiong the names associated with it and I just think if its so great why get me to invest and not big companies, I keep thinking of retouched photos, hurricanes, unfinished building sites etc etc and basically loosing money so I am not going to invest a penny based on gut feel but does anyone have any genuine dirt on this, anyone invested, any opinions.

http://www.harlequinproperty.co.uk/

A quick Google is illuminating, as the Google search terms bring up Harlequin Property Scam as one of the first automatic options which doesnt bode well.

Be a bit careful....
They were I think operating out of Spain a couple of years ago. Tried to sell me a place in the Merricks Beach Resort. From what I have read there have been major problems there. Do a google search.
Personally I would stay away from them.......

double post.

Are you already contracted out of SERPS then?

I assume so as I see no other way this could be achieved. Why just the SERPS/contracted out portion of your pension? How will they use the money from the pension to buy the property investment - through a SIPP?

I would only consider overseas property investment if I was completely happy with the risk of losing al the money. You say your not risk averse but you wouldn't be happy with losing the lot?

Your old IFA has probably sold his client bank on and they are looking at inventive ways of making as much dollar out of you as possible. The commission on these things is very high I believe.

Might be worth a few minutes of your time

http://www.mortgagesorter.co.uk/mort...#IFA_questions

dl

Not actually thinking of investing, not risk averse but not daft either, it all whiffs a bit to me.

[QUOTE=marky1;9342225]Be a bit careful....
They were I think operating out of Spain a couple of years ago. Tried to sell me a place in the Merricks Beach Resort. From what I have read there have been major problems there. Do a google serach.
Personally I would stay away from them......

At my age I am a cynical old sod, if it dont feel right leave it,ps look at the picture of the guy

in the middle is he saying "trust me my boy what could go wrong". These people use others greed to make a living

You are right; it dosn't sound like a good investment IMO.

If you want to invest in overseas property you want to invest in a "known" and accredited UK investment company that is part of the banking sector that then invests "some" funds in overseas property as they see fit as part of the investment plan. With the usual government and contractual gurantees and assurances given should it go belly up.

IFAs are a pain sometimes; good ones will tell you the bad as well as the good and make clear of the risks and worst case consequences, but most will just sugar coat everything.

Find another IFA :)

Hmmm you asked for dirt; http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/...rnt-abroad.jsp


and some forum moaning: http://www.singingpig.co.uk/forums/2...howThread.aspx

Ali, very illuminating, it looks like a very long shot that you would get your money back, let alone any actual profit, I suspect someone will walk away with a fair few quid, whoever set it up !

There is a chance that there is good money to be made but its about 1 percent compared to 99 percent of not seeing anything, the way the global economy is, investing in the Caribbean looks very shaky, especially when there are doubts about planning permissions, completion dates and whether the place will sit empty as people perhaps are less keen to use air travel due to the cost, I have always said that the holiday home abroad is a lovely notion but largely reliant on cheap airfares, with the airlines going tits up without much provocation due to cost savings I cant see them laying on loads of cheap flights to the Carribbean for ever if they dont make money just so you can nip over for a few days.

Harlequin Property-reply posting to 'Is This A Scam'
 

I must be very careful what I say about this company as they have destroyed the lives of many people- who have made allegations against them and who have been unable to prove their
case.
Several years ago there were many useful threads about this company on a website called 'Singing Pig.'
Because this company successfully sued the website-and impoverished many who made unproven and unfounded allegations-which has left many people (investors and others) with 'grudges' against this particular company-a very dangerous situation to be in as you never quite know who you have seriously 'disrespected' and how they might act to recover their monies.

From what I know, this is a company which has to keep 'looking over it's shoulder' because of the many 'disappointed' (and possibly even angry) investors over at least the last 8 years.

If you are one of the many disappointed investors of Harlequin Properties (and there are many out there) you might consider what is called in the U.S. a 'Class Action' Case-but this requires considerable organisation.
This is the only sensible way to take your 'grievance' forward.
Even should you win, the chances are you will still never see a shekel of your investment - knowing how company and offshore trust law operates-and that's where most of your money eventually ends up.

What I can say, without it being pejorative, is that you must exercise extreme care when dealing with this company.
You must exercise prudence when dealing with any company-but this one uses very sophisticated techniques.
After you have parted with your money to Harlequin and the Ames Family, well, that's another matter.

You know what they say about 'A Fool and His Money?'.
It's just a saying.
Need I say any more?

Shalom

Thread revival - odd first post too.

A local adviser firm is stuffing people into execution only, non regulated SIPPs and putting all the money into off-shore property. The commission I hear is very juicy.

Wouldn't entertain it personally - by chance the SIPP provider broker consultant visited us at the same time we found out about the above. I almost chucked him out when he asked me if we would be interested, he didn't hang around.

AFAIK, not much point whistle blowing as the FSA aren't interested. If you can afford to lose the lot then fine if you think it's worth a punt. If you invest all the saving you've got in something so risky it's clearly wrong (which is what is going on here) the provider knows whats going on but ignores it as it's not their problem (morally wrong IMO)

Didn't the owner of singing pig go bust leaving loads of people out of pocket after transferring money into a business set up in his wifes name?

Its a white elephant the whole thing, would no sooner flush tenners down the drain or buy a brand new Soob than invest in that, I guess Shimon spotted this whilst searching for info on them and felt compelled to offer a warning, fair enough, thanks for that !

Sadly I know someone who did invest in Harlequin please view the website http://www.harlequin-property-problems.co.uk/

If this posts saves atleast 1 person from investing with them then it was worth while

Steph x

Cheers Steph, hopefully this thread comes up if people Google it, strangely I saw something about one of their developments actually being completed on telly the other day but doesnt mean people havent lost cash, some will be living nice lifestyles off extracting money off others and giving nothing in return.

They do get their Commupance sometimes, an aqauintance of ours just got 21 months for defrauding companies about to go into receivership with promises of negotiating with the revenue for an extension, 100 grand spent on eating out, flying lessons and a significant online gambling activities, he was several times bankrupt and conned money out of friends apparently, never nice to see someone go to prison but the misery they caused makes it seem a satisfactory outcome.

J4CKO that is correct Buccament Bay is open as of August/September 2010 but if they are lucky they only have at the very most 30 people occupying it at any one time unless it is agents or investors. Also there is another website www.harlecon.net which give the information on company accounts, occupancy of the resort and also the money that investors should be getting but they actually aren't they are ending up out of pocket instead.

I'm just glad that you thought it was something fishy if only we did we wouldn't be in this position.

I do hope that they do get their commupance :)

The firm I mentioned last time this came up are still peddling this stuff.

Could you please tell me the name of the firm you can pm me with it if you want to. Is it Tailormade Group by any chance?

Please pass on the website link to family and friends I wouldn't want anyone else going through all this

I'll PM you the firm.

To be honest though, offshore property investing isn't necessarily a bad thing, its who it has been sold too. Folk who simply cannot afford to lose the sort of money they are handing over.

Not suggesting HQ are whiter than white, even with a million I'd avoid HQ.

I agree to a certain degree the people who's website it is already has property in Bulgaria without any problems and are perfectly happy with the investment.

Where as this with Harlequin has just gone so wrong.

This thread has had 8800 views, is that registered users or just hits I wonder ?

Open the door, what's the worst that can happen ;)

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/files/...lerroom_I1.jpg

TX.

Well Folks Carter Ruck have been in touch with us we may have to close the website later even though we can prove everything on the website is true. Please do me a favor and visit the site and leave your comments. http://www.harlequin-property-problems.co.uk

Thank you for your continued support

Steph

What happened to free speech, dont think the website is libellous, I would check your position and see whether it is bluster, perhaps if these people spent more of their clients money on the developments rather than bullying people with a genuine greivance because they have dared say something then perhaps there wouldnt be a need for websites.

Can see why they would want to protect their interests and perhaps there is an element of self fullfilling prophecy as if people Google their name that comes up it will put them off but this is tempered by the fact they have had a chance and seemingly blown it, there are lots of unhappy punters who have potentially invested life savings and lost them, the internet does give the investors the chance to have a right of reply.

I was pissed off with them as they used some information and a prior relationship we had with Allied Dunbar and the subsequent IFA as a way into our home to conduct a "Financial Review", now I am not so naive as to think this was not a sales opportunity but I was thinking in the context of matching specific products that fit our financial situation that may provide a better return, provided by someone who knows the market, what Serps is about, all about the legislation to potentially make things work better for us.

Due to the prior history we were pretty candid about our finances, my wife is generally pretty guarded about stuff like that but she liked the previous IFA and saw this woman as his direct replacement when in actual fact she poked and probed our finacial affairs for over an hour, we were then expecting some considered suggestions of things we could do and she makes some commision from the deal, which is how things work, as it was it was all preamble before she delivered the Harlequin sales pitch, she didnt have anything else, just these artists impressions of some beach huts and rattling on about some ancient Golfist like he was the messiah himself, I said I would take a look which I did, realised it was basically iffy and probably not a good investment vehicle, I then started this thread.

With advisers like these its no wonder the industry has a bad rep.

What makes me laugh is that the BBC airs programs like Panorama and Rip Off Britain informing the country that Unit Trust managers are taking back handers and Pension Providers are turning people over with excessive charges. Yet I've never seen anything relating to these types on investments.

You know Allied Dunbar were known in the industry as Allied Crowbar? The direct sales force are now Openwork and they leave alot to be desired too. We have a new chap who is ex-Openwork and we almost gave him is marching orders because his "training" really didn't fit our ethos. He's taken alot of time to be re-programmed into thinking client first. Its quite disgraceful.

The guy from Allied Dunbar was lurking all forlorn outside the B and Q in Altrincham, I had decided I needed life insurance and he was there, felt a bit sorry for him to be honest.

Sh1t happens..... its wise to be careful.

I have just lost £25k + 5yrs interest here.... from an IFA recommendation!

http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/pens...048356.article

Now cost me another £1,200 to join a lawsuit to try & recover some funds!
Bastids:(

Be careful out there...

Ok, Just to let all know, i actually visited the site yesterday Merricks in Barbados,yes a start has been made a couple of so called show houses are underway,but apparently Harlequin have pulled out of the development,and are citing that government have not come forward with the promised concessions they were going to give ? It is not known what the concessions were !!!. To get a Local notice go to nationnews.com
I am an Englishman and live not far from this site,and also a former site manager back in England. Some developments here have been very successful and rewarding in the passed so all is not doom and gloom, just do your homework b 4 parting with any money and get advice where ever possible.

Holy thread resurrection:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ury-homes.html