Mis-sold Harlequin Property claims
Were you encouraged to invest your pension in Harlequin Property, only to see little or no returns? Many people were mis-sold these investments and may be entitled to compensation.
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The Harlequin Property scam
The Harlequin Property scandal left many investors out of pocket after being promised luxury Caribbean resorts that were never fully developed. Despite raising around £400m from UK investors – many using SIPP pensions – only a few hundred of the planned 6,000 properties were built.
Harlequin’s downfall involved high-risk, unregulated overseas property investments sold by cold-calling firms and some Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) who mis-sold the investment.
Investors were often pressured into transferring their pensions with the promise of high returns without being told of the major risks involved. Now, Harlequin is insolvent, and the chairman, David Ames, is serving a 12-year prison sentence on fraud charges.
The FSCS has already paid millions in compensation to those affected by the Harlequin Property scam. If you invested in Harlequin and were misled, you may be eligible for compensation.
Speak with one of our claims experts today for a free no-obligation consultation to see if we can recover your losses together.
Can you claim compensation for Harlequin Property’s mis-selling?
Many investors have already received compensation after being mis-sold Harlequin Property investments through SIPPs. If you’ve invested in these high-risk schemes, you could be entitled to claim as well.
Spencer Churchill Claims Advice has helped many people make successful claims through our No Win – No Fee service.
You could have a claim if, at the time, you:
- Transferred your pension into a SIPP
- Invested in Harlequin Properties
- Earned less than £100k per year
- Didn’t qualify as a Sophisticated Investor
If any of those apply to you when you first were mis-sold, there’s a good chance you may be eligible to claim for negligent SIPP advice. Get started today and recover your losses.
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Let’s rewrite your financial story
We are here to rewrite the book for you. And luckily we are pretty damn good at creating happy endings.
We are here to rewrite the book for you. And luckily we are pretty damn good at creating happy endings.
When you get let down by someone you thought you could trust, it can leave its mark on you, emotionally and physically.
We are committed to transparency and fairness in the way we conduct with clients, including how we charge for our claims services.
Problems with Harlequin Property
Putting aside that this investment was often mis-sold be not one but several regulated financial advisers, the investment scheme itself didn’t go well either.
As early as 2013, investors started to get wind that something there were problems at Harlequin properties.
Properties simply weren’t always being built, making it near impossible for the investment money to generate returns for investors.
But what had happened to the Harelquin Properties money?
Fears were compounded when the Serious Fraud Office here in the UK launched an investigation in March 2013.
Whatever happened to the investment, problems started for most investors when they were unsuitably advised to invest their pensions into the high-risk scheme.
If you’re one of them, take a free initial assessment with one of our experienced case handlers to see if you can make a claim.
A story of mis-selling and financial loss
The Harlequin Property scheme quickly unravelled, with investors noticing problems as early as 2013. Properties weren’t being built, so returns were impossible. Here’s a brief timeline of events leading to Harlequin’s collapse and its impact on investors.
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The problems emerge
2013
By 2013, it was clear that Harlequin Property was in trouble. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated the group’s investments from 2010 to 2015.
Despite selling over 5,000 properties with the promise of high returns, none of the 1,200 homes they promised had been built. Harlequin Chairman David Ames blamed delays on stolen funds by a “rogue developer”. -
Legal trouble
2014
In 2014, Harlequin lost a court case involving 33 investors who’d paid 30% deposits for hotel rooms but never received ownership or promised returns. That same year, Ames’ son, Matthew, was sentenced to three years for involvement in a separate £1.6m fraud linked to another investment scheme.
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Wilkins Kennedy dispute and insolvency
2016
Harlequin also faced a legal battle with former auditor Wilkins Kennedy. While Harlequin technically won the case, the judge strongly criticised David Ames, calling him “dishonest” and “incompetent”, leading to huge losses for investors. That same year, Harlequin SVG entered insolvency, with over 130 creditors owed up to £163k each.
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David Ames fraud charges
2017
In 2017, after an SFO investigation, Ames was charged with Fraud by Abuse of Position. The charges covered his involvement with Harlequin from 2010 to 2015. He appeared in court in November 2017, where he denied defrauding investors.
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FSCS’s £125m bill
2019
By March 2019, the FSCS had paid out £125 million in compensation to investors affected by Harlequin Property. Financial advisors who mis-sold these investments either went out of business or disappeared, leaving the FSCS to cover the mis-selling claims.
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Ongoing investigations and claims
2024
As of 2024, the fallout from the Harlequin scandal continues. Ames is in prison, serving a 12-year sentence while further legal action is being explored by some investors. The FSCS is still processing claims for those affected by negligent advice, with new cases emerging regularly. Investors who haven’t filed a claim are being urged to seek advice as soon as possible, as deadlines for claims may apply.
Harlequin Property related claims
Harlequin Property FAQs
How Do I Know If I Was Mis-Sold A Harlequin Investment?
Harlequin was always a high-risk investment and should never have been suggested to many of the people who ended up invested.
Unregulated investments MAY have been considered suitable for people who are earning over £100k per year, or people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience about investing.
If not, the advice may well have been unsuitable, and it could be that a claim is possible.
Why was Harlequin Properties high risk?
Being based abroad, Harlequin Properties was NOT regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). It means that the FCA wasn’t looking over its shoulder.
Can cash investors make a claim?
Until quite recently, Cash Investors have been unable to make claims via the FSCS, however the FSCS says it will now consider cash claims for people who took negligent financial advice to invest in Harlequin.
Are there Harlequin Investor forums?
They’ve been quite a few Harlequin properties investor forums. A quick search online should bring you a few.
Who is David Ames Harlequin Resorts?
David Ames is the chairman and founder of Harlequin Property, the company behind the failed Harlequin Resorts investment scheme.
Ames played a key role in promoting luxury Caribbean property developments, which promised high returns but left many investors with major losses. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence on fraud charges.
What are the common signs of Harlequin mis-selling?
If you were mis-sold a Harlequin investment, you may have experienced the following:
- You were advised to invest in Harlequin Property without being told of the high risks.
- You transferred your pension into a SIPP to invest in Harlequin.
- You were promised guaranteed returns that never materialised.
- You felt pressured by cold-calling firms or financial advisors to make a quick decision.
- You weren’t informed that Harlequin was an unregulated, high-risk investment.
How much compensation can I get for a Harlequin claim?
The amount of compensation you can receive depends on your individual case. The FSCS has already paid up to £125 million to affected investors. In some cases, compensation can cover up to £85,000 per claim if your financial advisor is at fault.
Get in touch with a member of our claims team today to see how much you can claim.
Do you know how people complained about mis-sold investments and pensions in the last year?
A lot. Over twenty thousand complaints were made about mis-sold pensions and investments in 2020/21, a figure which had doubled since the year before.. It’s no secret how serious this problem is, and it just seems to keep getting worse.
Have you been a victim of financial mis-selling?
Reaching out for help is never easy,
especially if you’ve been misled in the past.
But getting in touch with us won’t commit you to anything. We want to toss you a lifeboat and guide you through the choppy waters of the financial ocean, not leave you struggling to stay afloat. Our experts are here to offer advice and support on financial claims. We know what we’re doing and you can trust that if you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
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Spencer Churchill Claims Advice will:
- Speak to you in plain English
- Provide you with a dedicated claims specialist
- Pay attention to the small details of your case
- Keep you up to date with the status of your claim
- Make sure you understand our charges
- Do absolutely everything we can to win your claim
How does our claims process work?
With millions of mis-sold pensions reported, it’s worth finding out if you can get your money back. Here’s how our simple process works:
What types of claims do we handle?
Find out how much you could claim today
Ready to take the next step? We’re here with clear, no-pressure advice. Give us a call today to find out if you have a valid claim
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