Tory MP’s firm in fresh links to collapsed savings group
A DIRECTOR at the training firm that employs high-flying Tory MP Johnny Mercer has been caught up in the scandal at collapsed savings company London Capital & Finance.
Stephen Jones sits on the board of The Crucial Group with Mercer, who is paid £85,000 a year for 20 hours of work a month as a nonexecutive director.
Crucial is owned by Paul Careless, whose other firms earned fees of £58m selling LCF bonds to savers.
And as well as sitting on the board of Crucial, Jones also runs a company which promoted these LCF investments. LCF went bust this year owing £237m to 11,500 people, and the Serious Fraud Office is investigating. Mercer, a former army officer, has insisted there is no connection between LCF and Crucial, which trains military veterans in cyber-security.
But the Mail can reveal Crucial director Jones worked with LCF. The 48-year-old is a long-standing associate of Careless and has served on at least 16 boards with him, according to records filed at Companies House.
Jones is the sole director of a company owned by Careless called RP Digital Services that promoted the LCF bonds. RP runs Isa comparison websites that were used to promote the risky LCF products.
These sites touted LCF bonds offering returns as high as 8pc.
Until late last year, Jones was also on the board of a property firm linked to the scandal.
This company, View Property SPV5, was owned by Careless and his business associate Elten Barker. View Property SPV5 was set up to sell a property on the Isle of Wight owned by View Property Group, another firm owned by Careless where Jones is a director. View Property Group has been contacted about this proposed property deal – which never went ahead – by the SFO as it probes the collapse of LCF.
As well as co- owning View Property SPV5, Barker separately owned several companies that were handed LCF savers’ money, including £12.1m that went to two firms developing resorts in Cape Verde.
These two firms were owned by Barker and Simon HumeKendall, who set up LCF.
Administrators have described these transactions as ‘ highly suspicious’.
Jones is also a director of Surge Air, which belongs to Careless and owned a £1.5m helicopter until last month.
Mercer and Jones declined to comment. A spokesman for Careless’s companies said his firms did not handle client money and were not involved in decisions about where to make investments. The businesses followed all regulations and fees they earned were in line with the industry standard, he said.
There is no suggestion Mercer knew anything about LCF or has done anything wrong.