‘I can’t even afford to buy a gravestone for my husband’

A property mini-bond firm that has been “bullying” and “threatening” investors has continued pushing its creditors to the brink of financial ruin, a Telegraph Money investigation has found.

Savers who invested in the group face homelessness and have struggled to pay their bills because The High Street Group continued to renege on its promise to make good on owed interest, as we reported last month.

DIY investors put more than £50m into high-risk loan notes on the promise of 12pc annual returns and yearly access to their money. But the £1.5bn investment firm, which first defaulted on an interest payment in 2019, has continued to withhold payments as it struggles financially.

Celine Lacrimosa*, 83, whose late husband invested £ 150,000 in 2019, has been in a 10-month battle for the money, during which she said she had been “bullied” and “threatened”.

The pensioner said she needed to settle her late husband’s affairs as the investment formed part of his estate. “I am in limbo until it is paid out. I need it to live on. I cannot put a gravestone on his grave. It really is too much,” she said.

Mrs Lacrimosa said she had asked to redeem her money in November 2020 but was told there would be a six-month delay because of the pandemic.

In June this year she was told her cash would be locked away for at least four years. That month the company passed an unusual stakeholder vote to block investors from redeeming their investments early.

This was despite a guarantee that loan note investors would have access to their money in full each year.

The pensioner said she had received “aggressive” phone calls from senior staff who were trying to prevent her from speaking to this newspaper about the company’s cash flow problems.

She said: “They are holding me over a barrel. They said that if I spoke out the project I had invested in would go into administration and we would get nothing back.”

In an email seen by this newspaper, the company promised Mrs Lacrimosa a repayment of her £ 150,000 capital without interest in two parts, one at the end of August and one at the end of September, conditional on her silence.

However, The High Street Group missed its promised payment date and Mrs Lacrimosa said she never received the money despite holding up her end of the deal until then. She has been unable to speak with anyone at the group in the past four weeks. Mrs Lacrimosa has her own £50,000 investment in the company but has “given up” on this being returned before 2025, the new redemption date.

Another investor, Katie Hawkins, 45, from Kent, received £22,000 interest payments on her £185,000 investment but only after being “bribed” to keep quiet.

Mrs Hawkins spoke to Telegraph Money about her ordeal after receiving the cash. She said she had also received aggressive and intimidating calls from senior employees.

At the time, a High Street Group spokesman said it was “conscious and respectful” of personal circumstances and had created a relief fund for exceptional situations. It is unclear why Mrs Lacrimosa does not qualify as a vulnerable investor.

Last year directors of the limited company, known as The High Street Group Limited, set up a separate entity, The High Street Group plc. Last month it was renamed Hadrian Real Estate days after this newspaper’s investigation found it had started defaulting on its payments and had retrospectively changed the terms in its contracts.

The group’s founder and chairman, Gary Forrest, has resigned from the new entity but has remained in charge of the old one and has still communicated with investors.

A spokesman for Hadrian Real Estate said the group had bought several property development schemes from The High Street Group Ltd but would not be taking on the liabilities of the loan notes. This means investors are still owed money by the original company despite the sale of the assets.

Craig Hopkins*, 68, who invested £150,000 of his pension into the loan notes in 2018, said there was “total confusion” among investors. A verified group of creditors owed more than £5m has come together in a bid to challenge The High Street Group. However, Mr Hopkins said it had been “completely unclear” whether his investments would remain with the old company or be transferred to Hadrian Real Estate.

“The High Street Group has lost our trust and confidence. It’s hard to know what to believe any more. We just want our money back,” he said.

A spokesman for The High Street Group said its communications had fallen short of the level investors needed but they would receive more updates in the coming weeks.

“We have now set up a team dedicated solely to responding to our investors’ questions. We decided that we would speak to as many investors as possible to review all the issues and respond accordingly,” he said.

‘They have locked away my money and I am in limbo until I get it. I need it to live on’