Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime

We have been campaigning for the police in the UK to investigate
widespread allegations of theft and fraud from the Series 1 fund by
Tiuta plc. The FSA failed to act on clear evidence provided to it in
March 2011 and it has done little to date to win the trust of
investors. Former employees of Tiuta, Connaught, and third parties
including borrowers have been coming forward to talk to us and to give
us evidence. We are most grateful. We are hoping to pass on the
evidence to the police.

We have been campaigning for the FSA to address our concerns about one
of its officials called Lorraine Wadhams. The FSA has been slow to
address our concerns. The average policeman understands instinctively
that he cannot investigate allegations of theft and fraud against a
personal friend and former work colleague. It has amazed the Action
Group that Lorraine Wadhams, an official at the FSA, has continued to
be involved in the supervision of Tiuta plc even though we have
highlighted the fact that under the employee’ s Code at the FSA, she
should not be involved at all. She worked with Mike Davies, one of the
suspected fraudsters. Mike Davies was the compliance officer of Tiuta
plc and a de facto director of Tiuta plc. He was also the Chairman of
Connaught Asset Management and was a very active executive director.
We have evidence that he has known about misdeeds at Tiuta plc since
2009, if not before. This is a much earlier date than the evidence
previously received. Unless the FSA clearly removes Lorraine Wadhams
from duties relating to the supervision of Tiuta plc, there will be a
reluctance by third parties to provide detailed evidence of this kind
to the FSA. There will be a worry or suspicion (justified or not) that
leaks from the FSA may occur to prejudice the police investigation and
the efforts of the Action Group to uncover further evidence of
wrongdoing. Some investors have asked the police to investigate
alleged corruption at the FSA involving the failure to act on evidence
of fraud and false accounting received in March 2011.

There is another reason to turn to the police. It has been successful
in investigating two other Ponzi schemes. In the past week David
Bowerman was jailed for eight years for stealing £7.5 million from a
ponzi scheme involving 250 people. In a wholly unrelated trial,
Nicholas “Beano” Levene was jailed for 13 years for a £100 million
Ponzi scheme. We now firmly believe that the Series 1 Fund is a £100
million Ponzi scheme and approximately 50% of investors’ money has
been stolen or otherwise lost. Many of the investors in the Series 1
Fund are hard-working people and pensioners. We understand that a few
wounded war veterans also invested. In America, we venerate those
wounded in the cause of freedom and fighting for our country. We hope
that your police give this matter the priority that it deserves.

However, we have noted that both of the recently reported Ponzi scheme
cases involved celebrity investors. If you are a celebrity investor in
the Series 1 fund, please contact us and we will pass on your details
to the police.