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Stephen Sefton
Posted: 14 March 2017 09:55:15(UTC)
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Update. I have retrieved 92% of my original pension to date from an organised pension scam that operated in the UK in 2015.

I cannot fault the Maltese trustee (Integrated Capabilities Malta Ltd) for their hard work and efforts to recover my money and negotiated all the early exit penalties plus admin charges. The 8% drop was a drop in the NAV of one of the funds.

A great effort by ICML. They should have been a bit smarter in the first place and not allowed me to get into the mess but I am truly grateful they helped get me out of it.
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2 users thanked Stephen Sefton for this post.
Joe Soap on 15/03/2017(UTC), xcity on 15/03/2017(UTC)
Joe Soap
Posted: 14 March 2017 10:19:31(UTC)
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That sounds a great result for you. I'm very pleased about that, and thanks for the feedback too.
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Stephen Sefton
Posted: 14 March 2017 10:57:42(UTC)
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It is a great result and I count myself lucky. Many people do not discover they've been scammed until it is too late to recover and end up with nothing. I came close.

I have learned the hard way and got the scars to prove it but I also discovered the "ambulance chasers" that come along after you're down, and for a fee, offer false hope of recovering your money by litigation. But it is a fact that few people ever see a penny of their money again. As far as I am concerned I'm done. I won't get any more, even by litigation and to think I will, is just stupid and would be a total waste of time and money.

You feel alone, deserted, used and for a long time you face financial ruin and have no idea how you are going to retire on anything more than a state pension after decades of saving - and even the state pension goal post moved to 66 with rumours it will move again!

I also discovered the authorities abandon you too. To complain is just wasting my life. But there are people that led me to believe reprisal was possible.

Life is too short and the worst thing about "hope" is when you discover it to be false.

There's a shark in very pool and to the average punter this truly is a nightmare!
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andy mac on 14/03/2017(UTC), Raj K on 14/03/2017(UTC), xcity on 15/03/2017(UTC)
Stephen Sefton
Posted: 14 March 2017 16:37:14(UTC)
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What people who take your money don't realise is how easy depression can dominate your daily life. Hundreds of victims not only suffering financial losses but having to cope with the onset of depression. These victims are at their most vulnerable and will grasp at any straw that gives even an inkling of hope .... even if it is false.

Even with 92% recovered, depression has been so frequent it's almost a habit. It doesn't take a lot to tip a person over the edge.

You gotta ask yourself how these sharks sleep at night?
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3 users thanked Stephen Sefton for this post.
Keith Hilton on 14/03/2017(UTC), Raj K on 14/03/2017(UTC), xcity on 15/03/2017(UTC)
Alan Selwood
Posted: 15 March 2017 00:16:20(UTC)
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I'm so pleased to hear that you got most of the money back, Stephen. You have been very lucky indeed. And well done to the organisation that helped you recover what you did.

Don't spend time wondering how conmen can sleep at night - their brains just aren't wired up to be decent and human. That's their tragedy and their loss - don't make it yours by dwelling on it.

Onwards and upwards!
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sandid3
Posted: 15 March 2017 06:49:01(UTC)
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The most damaging threat facing ordinary people today is not violent crime; it is white-collar crime. For every criminal person who actually breaks the rules there may well be dozens more (thousands more for the GFC) who are wilfully blind or wilfully negligent in order to profit for themselves.

When things go wrong there are only two possible explanations (if we rule out divine intervention): the cock-up theory and the conspiracy theory. It's always best to start by assuming the conspiracy theory.
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Stephen Sefton
Posted: 15 March 2017 06:59:50(UTC)
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Thanks Alan.

It is debatable whether the "organisation" you refer to was a help or a hindrance - and I am not going to debate it here. I disassociated myself from it and it is irreconcilable. We didn't see eye to eye on the methods being used.

I have begun a constructive dialogue of my own with the parties involved and been invited to a meeting with a view to recovering the other 8%. So this could come to a very satisfactory end very soon instead of a long drawn out bun fight that was getting nowhere.

If I get a decent settlement, I will retract all complaints with the authorities and given I am effectively the only complainant in this case that has come forward, the whole case falls apart.

I just want to retire and put the nightmare behind me. I have perhaps at most 10 years before I am pushing up daisies and I would like to enjoy them with my wife. Depression is so damaging. I withdraw, push people away that care about me and want to help, make irrational and irreconcilable decisions that just makes things worse. Talking on a forum helps though but the last time I did that it ended badly.

I'll let you know how much more I recover.
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3 users thanked Stephen Sefton for this post.
xcity on 15/03/2017(UTC), Raj K on 15/03/2017(UTC), Alan Selwood on 15/03/2017(UTC)
Alan Selwood
Posted: 15 March 2017 14:48:40(UTC)
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Stephen,

By 'organisation', I meant the Maltese trustee (Integrated Capabilities Malta Ltd) to whom you referred in what appeared to be positive terms.

Other parties seem to have been less than helpful, from what I remember of the posts of yours that got removed.

It's interesting to see that QROPS have been given the fiscal cold shoulder in the latest Budget. That may (one hopes) help reduce 'locust infestation' in that part of the financial (dis)services market place. (If you see what I mean!).
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Stephen Sefton
Posted: 16 March 2017 14:00:19(UTC)
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Ah, OK, yes ICML did work hard to recover as much as they could including negotiating with the various entities to forego their early exit penalties and refund admin charges. I have recovered all but 8% due to one particular fund and I am holding out hope I get that back also. So I am really lucky - and the previous thread I started was a big help in the main - except for those that said all the money was most likely gone and never to be seen again - that caused a few sleepless nights!

There were other "organisations" that were involved, purporting to help but turned out to be more a hindrance than a help.

I am in discussion about the 8% and been invited to a meeting at a location of my choosing so things are looking up.

I would imagine the budget has stopped the flow offshore instantly. A 25% tax is a serious penalty. It's a good thing really but there are hundreds already transferred and invested in funds that are not appropriate but won't discover until it's too late to save anything.
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