Grandma could lose home after £180k scam by pensions pirates
Family’s agony after Mail exposed scandal
‘Making millions from other people’s misery’
The Mail: December 29
THREE generations of a family face losing their home after a grandmother was fleeced of £180,000 in a ‘state-sanctioned’ pension scam.
Patricia Yates, 58, shares the home with her husband Geoffrey, 62, daughter Geraldine Oatham, 35, and 11-year-old grandson Paddy.
But they face an uncertain future after losing the nest egg she had worked for since she was 17 and planned to use to help clear her interest- only mortgage on the property in Laindon, Essex, when she retired.
Like hundreds of others, the money vanished when she moved it to an ‘unscrupulous’ scheme Fast Pensions, run by a rogue British couple now living in a villa on the Costa Blanca. The scheme was one of more than 100 government-sanctioned pension scams exposed by the Daily Mail that saw tens of thousands of workers losing up to £10billion of savings. Victims agreed to transfer their savings to the schemes because they were enrolled with HMRC and the Pensions Regulator – making them appear above board. This was in large part down to a 2006 government rule change aimed at bringing ‘security, dignity and comfort in old age’ which led to scammers being able to enrol pension schemes with HMRC online in a matter of minutes – and with virtually no checks.
Fast Pensions was wound up by the Insolvency Service last year after investigators found it had misused up to £21million of pension savings transferred into it, with advisers failing to disclose the high risk and illiquid investments they made and misrepresenting the benefits members would be entitled to.
It has been a devastating blow for Mrs Yates, who had worked as an administrator at Lloyds Bank head office for 22 years after starting just before her 18th birthday.
She said: ‘I thought I was doing the right thing. But it has caused terrible emotional as well as financial damage. The strain has affected our relationship and the uncertainty is very worrying for everyone in the house.’
After leaving Lloyds for a new job, she moved the money to Fast Pensions in 2012 which she thought would help secure her future.
She had no reason to doubt the scheme, which was registered with HMRC and overseen by The Pensions Regulator.
Mrs Yates was told if she invested it for ten years she would be able to use the funds to pay off her mortgage when she turns 62, in three years’ time.
She said: ‘It was all fine at the start, I was getting statements and it looked like it was going the right way. But in 2014 things started to go sour. I tried to contact them about my money but there was no response.
‘ I tracked down people who worked for them and called them and even visited the headquarters in Trafalgar Square to try to speak with them.’
Eventually Sara Moat, the director of Fast Pensions, rang her to say it would be ten days before they got the money because they were selling assets. ‘ They kept saying it would be better if we invested the money. I just wanted to get my money safe,’ Mrs Yates said.
But she never received her money. Soon after receiving the call from Mrs Moat, Fast Pensions was put into liquidation and wound up last year.
Mrs Yates has battled to win back her savings and is considering taking action with the Pensions Ombudsman.
She said it was very frustrating that police had dropped the investigation into Fast Pensions, citing costs. ‘I hope the authorities start to take notice, because hundreds of us are facing a very worrying future,’ she added.