This art heist paints a very sorry picture...
I.T. writes: In November 2015, I received a cold call from Imperial Collectables Limited, which I have regretted answering ever since. They persuaded me to invest my savings in art. I bowed to pressure and put £18,800 into four pieces. Then last November, I received a call, advising me that due to Brexit my four pieces of art would fall in value by as much as 60 per cent, but if I invested a further £50,000 I would be included in an insurance scheme that would guarantee my investment. I did not pay this and I took delivery of the art. I have now approached professional valuers. One firm says the art is worth less than £5,000 in total. To my horror, two major auction houses both came up with a total valuation of under £1,000. Do you have any knowledge of Imperial Collectables?
LET us deal with the easy questions first. Why would Brexit reduce the value of works of art that can be sold anywhere in the world and in any currency? How could a further investment somehow include insurance that would compensate for that reduction?
None of this makes sense, except as a final attempt to squeeze more cash out of you and other victims before Imperial Collectables is abandoned by the tricksters who have already relieved you of £18,800 for works of art worth a fraction of that, yet supposedly offered as profitable investments. Signs are that the company has in fact been abandoned.
It was supposed to file details of its ownership with Companies House last October but failed to do so. Interestingly, officials began proceedings to have the company struck off, but suddenly suspended action in January. This often means an investigation has been opened.
Imperial Collectables is based in Bromley, the area of South London that is home to more scams than you can shake a stick at.
But while its location is a bit of a red flag in itself, the name that jumps out of company records is that of Nicola Jane Surin. The 36-year-old is the sole director of the business and – unless something has changed – its owner as well. Surin is already in my files. She was sales manager at a scam investment company called London Carbon Neutral. An investigation by the Government’s Insolvency Service two years ago found that this was part of a corrupt network of eight firms, all involved in various rip-off schemes.
One of the eight businesses was Blakeney Bridge Wine. It and London Carbon Neutral were based at the same address in Croydon in South London.
From there, telephone salesmen cold-called potential victims. The official who headed the investigation says that investors who could not be persuaded to buy carbon credits were then offered wine investment instead – and vice versa. All eight companies were shut down by the High Court. Local sources add that Nicola is related to Noel Surin, one of the people behind Worldwide Wealth Collections, a scam investment company that went into liquidation in 2012.
I invited Nicola Surin to comment, but attempts to find her at the contact address she gave to Companies House failed. The address belongs to a business centre in Croydon, where staff said she was not known.
You reported Imperial Collectables to Action Fraud last January. The fraud agency passed your evidence to Surrey Police in April. Surrey Police did not respond to my requests for a comment or my offer to publish an appeal for other victims to come forward.
But if any victims – or anyone with evidence – would like to contact me, I will do whatever I can to get this taken seriously.