Garner crashes Norton
Norton goes into administration and the gruesome truth about boss Stuart Garner's actions starts to emerge...
Norton going into administration is bad enough – many customers, suppliers and staff will inevitably lose money. But details have emerged that make the venerable British brand’s demise look like a subplot in a far more sinister and rotten tale.
A remarkable investigation by The Guardian and ITV business teams has unearthed details of how Norton’s owner Stuart Garner got involved with a convicted conman in order to help inance his company, and has ended up leaving hundreds of people without some or all of their pension pots. The investigation also revealed that Norton beneitted from the proceeds of a £1m tax fraud.
It’s the pension angle that’s most shocking, as several of the 228 people whose pensions were fraudulently invested in Norton have been left with little for their retirements. All 228 were persuaded to shift their money from a conventional pension by Simon Colfer, who had used a false name to hide a previous conviction and bankruptcy. The three new pension plans he moved the money into were controlled by Garner, who has said he did not know the funds – totalling £14m – were raised fraudulently.
However, dozens of the pension holders say Garner ignored repeated requests to return their money, even when he knew it had been passed to him by a conman.
The Guardian/ ITV investigation team spoke to Elizabeth Pitcairn, 55. She claimed Garner had not returned her £56,000 pension, saying: ‘I think [Garner] has behaved atrociously. How is it in this day and age with all these checks that are in place he can have my money – basically take my money – and not give it back and there be no penalty to him?’
Next month, Bike will report on a case being brought by 30 people complaining to the insurance ombudsman about Garner’s conduct. In May 2019, the ombudsman said: ‘We have received a number of complaints concerning the trustee’s failure to action members’ requests to withdraw their monies from the scheme, and from two other pension schemes of which Mr Garner is the sole trustee; the funds of which are also invested in Norton Motorcycle Holdings Limited.’
In a statement, Garner said: ‘I’m devastated at the events over the last 24 hours and personally have lost everything. However, my thoughts are with the Norton team and everyone involved at this truly dificult time.’ » You can read the full investigation by Simon Goodley and Joel Hills at theguardian.com and itv.com