Regulator must see the light on ‘solar’ scheme

Probes a world of scams and scandals

Ms M.R. writes: I am looking to invest in Solaris Fixed Rate Bonds through Whitehorse Bonds, but is it too good to be true? I am assured that my capital would be safe, but I feel there must be some snags. SAFE? Who knows? Snags? Plenty. There are far more questions than answers about this whole scheme.

There is no such UK company as Whitehorse Bonds. Its website reveals this is just a trading name used by a company called Prime Guard Limited, owned by its sole director Mr Tashfeen Mogul. He wants you to invest at least £10,000 in a Whitehorse Solaris Bond which will, he says, pay up to 8 per cent annual interest.

But Mogul seems uncertain as to the name of his business. His website says: ‘ For over a decade Whitehorse Capital has provided investment and wealth management to individuals, families, groups and institutions.’

But although there are companies with similar names, there is no such UK company as Whitehorse Capital either.

How safe is your money? Well, according to Mogul, ‘All investments made with the Whitehorse Finance Group are asset backed against company assets which include gold, cash and real estate.’ But again, there is no such UK company as t he Whitehorse Finance Group.

Perhaps this is less important than it seems, though. Mogul explains: ‘If for any reason the sale of assets does not cover the value of all outstanding investments then our Wealth Protection Scheme will be utilised to cover any shortfall.’

But who finances the protection scheme? What are its terms? There is no answer. That said, Prime Guard must be impressively run. It claims to have over 2,300 active investors and more than £127 million under management – all without being registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and all in a remarkably short time. Prime Guard is barely a year old.

As for the Solaris bonds, Whitehorse says it is raising money for a solar energy scheme abroad. It does not name the country, let alone the exact location or the price that might be expected for the electricity generated – all significant factors for investors.

I put all these questions to Mogul, twice. He did not reply. His friendly website says ‘Give us a call or drop by any time’ – but it fails to give his address and his phone is an 0800 number that could ring anywhere.

I rang the number a few days ago, gave my name and asked for Mogul. After a long pause, I was told he was not in the office. He might be in next week. Could I speak to someone else? There was another pause. ‘Are you a client?’ I was asked, even though I had already explained that I was calling from The Mail on Sunday. When I replied that I was not a client, the Whitehorse voice told me: ‘Well, I am not putting you through to anyone then.’

So, this is just another dubious offer of IOUs that appear to sidestep investor protection laws. This is a growing scandal with no end in sight.

The Financial Conduct Authority needs to get a grip. If it believes it does not have the legal powers it needs, then it must demand those powers from the Government right now and do so publicly. The regulator has a bad record of closing the stable door only after the horse has raked in millions of pounds and bolted. It should not let fixed rate bond offers get out of hand for a day longer.