Teak tree scam directors are banned for ten years
TWO directors of a scam investment fund that promised an annual yield of 10 per cent from teak trees in Brazil have been banned from British boardrooms for ten years after investigators from the Insolvency Service found their business owed at least £24 million to investors.
Andrew Skeene and Omari Bowers, from South London, set up GFI Consultants Limited to market leases on forestry land in Brazil. In addition to the minimum fixed yield, they told investors there would be an additional potential return of up to 5 per cent every few years, when trees were harvested.
The pair guaranteed to buy back the land after three years for the full purchase price plus an extra 5 per cent.
But investigators found no evidence their company could grant any lease, nor was there ‘any genuine or realistic prospect’ they could honour the buy-back pledge. The majority of investors received no return after the first year.
According to the Insolvency Service: ‘Over £13 million of the monies received by GFI were paid to the personal accounts of Skeene and Bowers.’
The company, which operated from 2010 to 2014, is now in liquidation with total liabilities of more than £26 million. The liquidator has lodged a claim against Bowers for £4.08 million and a claim against Skeene for £3.24 million.
His report says: ‘These claims are in respect of payments made to the individuals from the company bank account which are unexplainable and detrimental to the company.’
The pair have been declared bankrupt and the Serious Fraud Office is investigating.
In 2009, I warned of a scheme run by Skeene, which promised a 30 per cent return on property investments in Dubai. In 2011, I sounded the alarm over the Brazil forestry scam.
Bowers hit back by posting a series of allegations on message boards including Facebook and MoneySavingExpert. He suggested I was under investigation for tax fraud and that I offered financial tips illegally.
When I traced the messages to him, he said: ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about, mate.’