Latest news February 2019
Back in October, we reported on an alleged trust mis-selling scandal by Universal Wealth Group. The company, which collapsed with hundreds of clients fearing for their life savings, has been the subject of a police criminal investigation.
Why are there allegations of mis-selling?
Universal Wealth Group preyed on the fears of members of the public – many of whom were elderly. Their clients were told that ‘ring-fencing’ their savings in a trust fund would protect their money from being used to pay for care home fees in the future.
Universal Wealth charged a hefty fee for setting up the trust and annual management fees on top.
The problem is that such trusts are often worthless when it comes to avoiding care home fees. The reason for this is that Local Authorities know about such care home fee avoidance trust schemes. And if they find out that a trust fund has been set up for this purpose they will take legal action for ‘deliberate deprivation of assets’.
Where are now?
News about Universal Wealth seems to have gone quiet in recent months but if you think the problem has simply gone away, you’d be wrong!
Such is the scale of the police investigation that Suffolk Police have escalated their enquiries and the Police’s Eastern Region Special Operations Unit has been drafted in to deal with the sheer volume of enquiries from people who are worried they have become the victims of fraud.
What’s the latest news?
In the past few days, Sussex Police have confirmed to the team at Steene Law that Operation Ardent – the name they have given to the investigation into Universal Wealth Group’s mis-selling of trusts – is very much ongoing and new enquiries from worried members of the public are still flooding in.
We have already been instructed by individuals who are clients of Universal Group.
The Police have made us aware that Universal Group had over 3,000 clients prior to its collapse.
Investigating officers seized 700 boxed of client files, company papers and digital records. That’s a lot of data for the police to sift through!
Many people may not yet know that they have been mis-sold a trust or have family members who have been tricked into taking out trusts that will not do they job they were intended to do.
I am worried I have been mis-sold a trust – what can I do?
If you are worried about a trust that has been sold to you with the express intention of avoiding care home fees – like the ones mis-sold by Universal Wealth Group – you need to speak to us.
Call us for FREE now and we will tell you straight away, at no cost to you, if your trust is valid.
We can either put your mind at rest and reassure you or – if as is the case with Universal Wealth – you have been mis-sold a trust, we can explain the steps you need to take.
Call our team now for FREE on 0203 653 0623.