The Stirling Mortimer overseas property funds were often mis-sold to SIPP investors, who were not always properly assessed for this high-risk and unregulated investment.
The SFO investigation was closed 6 years later because there was “no prospect of obtaining sufficient evidence to bring charges in this matter”.
Although there were several Stirling Mortimer funds, the ones investigated were:
Stirling Mortimer Cape Verde 4
Stirling Mortimer Morocco 6
Stirling Mortimer Cape Verde 7
Fraud allegations or not, many people were persuaded to invest their retirement funds in this high-risk investment through SIPP pensions, and may still be able to claim.
Get started nowSeveral financial advisers and the FSCS have been paying out compensation for having been mis-sold Stirling Mortimer investments via SIPPs and SSASs for a few years, with Spencer Churchill Claims Advice often leading the claim on a No Win – No Fee* basis.
If you:
Then you may have been mis-sold, and you could be able to make a claim for negligent SIPP advice.
Fill in your details below to have a no obligation chat about your situation
Based in Guernsey, and NOT regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Stirling Mortimer operates several investment funds relating to the construction of property abroad.
Sun, sea and sand locations were picked, such as Cape Verde, Spain and Morocco.
Investors could place their money (often through SIPP pensions) into 7 different Stirling Mortimer funds, all offering high returns.
But many of the financial advisers involved mis-sold Stirling Mortimer to their clients, failing to ensure they had the necessary experience to invest in high-risk overseas property funds, and adequate wealth to undertake the risks.
Things got even messier when the SFO launched an investigation in several funds:
Relating to the Stirling Mortimer Global Property Fund, a high-court judge ordered ELS to pay up after it presided over 9.8m Euros which may have been “misappropriated“.
In Feb 2011, one headline ran that there was still a 6.3million Euro “Black Hole” in the Stirling Mortimer Global Property Fund, effecting The Cape Verde no. 4 fund.
January 2015 saw the news that around 24 financial advisers had been found to have given negligent financial advice over Stirling Mortimer, and had since fallen into default with the FSCS.
Over 130 claims had helped bring these advisers to account.
After years of investigation, the SFO dropped their investigation into Stirling Mortimer, citing “no prospect of obtaining sufficient evidence to bring charges in this matter”.
It would be nice to think that Stirling Mortimer was the ONLY high-risk overseas property scheme to be mis-sold through SIPPs.
Sadly, there are many more, and mis-sold SIPPs are a problem for thousands of pension savers all over the country, many of which are yet to realise they have been mis-sold and may be able to make a claim.
If you invested in Stirling Mortimer, why not take the time to have a free chat with one of our experienced Case Assessors to see if you can make a claim on a No Win – No Fee* basis.
Get started now
We’d have to look at your paperwork to make sure, but if you were advised to invest in Stirling Mortimer through a SIPP, but WEREN’T:
Then you may have been mis-sold.
Investments like these should only be undertaken by people who have the money and knowledge to invest in a high-risk scheme. Financial advisers should know this.
They are not regulated by the watchdogs at the FCA, as they are based in Guernsey and have assets abroad.
Quite anti-climatically, the Serious Fraud Office investigation into Stirling Mortimer which took place between 2012 and 2018, resulted in the charges being dropped due to the unrealistic prospect of obtaining sufficient evidence.
However, over 24 financial advisers have been held to account for negligent pension and investment advice over Stirling Mortimer, with thousands being paid out for many successful claims.
Take a FREE, no-obligation assessment with Spencer Churchill Claims Advice.
We’re specialists at mis-sold pension claims.
If it turns out you do have a claim, you can come onboard as a client.