An article by The Times Newspaper talking about the Ark Class Action which is challenging the pension-busting fraudsters. Featuring an interview with Mark Atherton (The Times Journalist) and Angie Brooks (Chairman of the Ark Class Action).

1. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/article4204865.ece
Money
Pension scam leaves victims in debt
Angie Brooks is leading a campaign to secure justice for victims of a
pensions "liberation" scam Pic: Richard Pohle
Mark Atherton
Last updated at 12:01AM, September 13 2014
Thousands of people have lost more than £500 million of their savings
after being duped into taking part in unauthorised “pension liberation”

2. scams. Experts say that the true figure runs into billions because many
cases go unreported.
They also warn that next year’s relaxation of the rules governing how
you can take your pension cash will provide a fertile breeding ground for
fresh scams as fraudsters queue up to exploit the uncertainty around the
new pensions regime.
Some of today’s victims fear they have lost their entire pension savings,
while others say they have been driven to the brink of suicide.
The lure of pensions “liberation”
Savers were originally lured into transferring their pension pots by the
promise of getting their hands on their retirement cash before the age of
55. However, many succeeded in “unlocking” only half of their pension
pot, with the rest going partly into uncertain property investments, partly
into cash and partly to the scheme’s promoters through hefty fees.
Savers were told that these schemes were legitimate but that was not
true. Now many of the victims are facing financial ruin as they are being
told to hand back the money they “liberated”, while Revenue & Customs
is poised to slap on a tax penalty of 55 per cent of the “unlocked” cash.
In many cases they simply do not have the money to pay.
The Ark schemes
Among the biggest “liberation” schemes were those created by Ark, a
pensions consultant. These were marketed by financial advisers and so-called
“introducers” in the UK and Spain. One of the main players was
Stephen Ward, of Premier Pension Solutions (PPS), a Spanish-based
company.
Angie Brooks, below, a former tax barrister, who is leading the class
action on behalf of the Ark victims, says: “Mr Ward assured Ark
applicants that it was lawful and tax-free and was approved by the
Revenue and the pensions regulator. The Revenue registered the six
Ark occupational pension schemes without checking for compliance. So
did the pensions regulator. This understandably gave the Ark members
the reasonable illusion that the schemes were lawful and approved by
the UK government.”
The registration procedures have now been changed. She says that
between September 2010 and May 2011, £25 million was transferred

3. from personal and occupational pension plans into Ark schemes, for
fees of up to 10 per cent of the value of the transferred pot. More was
transferred after this, bringing the total to £27 million.
PPS teamed up with AES International, a firm regulated in the UK, which
gave PPS a tied agent agreement to operate in Spain under its
regulation (though this did not authorise PPS to carry out pension
transfers). PPS carried out at least 160 Ark pension transfers, totalling
£10.7 million, with Ark taking a 5 per cent cut of each transfer, PPS
pocketing a further 3 per cent, as well as a slice of the Ark money, and
AES receiving a 12.5 per cent slice of PPS’s cut.
The schemes “unlocked” money by arranging for members to make
reciprocal loans, worth about half the value of their pension pot, to each
other. Many believed they would not have to repay these loans, known
as Maximising Pension Value Arrangements (MPVA). The remaining
half of their pension pots, after deduction of hefty charges, was partly
held in cash and partly used to buy plots of land or timeshares.
Alarm bells started to ring in December 2010 when the Revenue
expressed “concerns” over the lawfulness of the schemes, though it was
not until May that they were suspended and a trustee — Dalriada —
appointed. It embarked on litigation that resulted in the Ark schemes
being declared invalid and the reciprocal loans judged to be
“unauthorised payments” in the High Court in December 2011.
The cost to Ark victims
The judge’s ruling delivered a twofold blow to Ark members. First,
Dalriada was enabled to demand back the money they had received as
loans under the schemes. Second, since the loans were “unauthorised
payments” the Revenue was entitled to levy a penalty charge of 55 per
cent on these sums. The Revenue has not decided whether to tax the
donors or recipients.
Dalriada has managed to recover more than £6 million of the £7 million
which Ark spent on property investments. Sean Browes, of Dalriada,
adds that it also has £9 million of Ark money in a bank account and is
seeking to unscramble the £10 million of reciprocal loans. However, this
has come at the cost of £800,000 in Dalriada’s fees and £1.9 million in
legal costs.

4. According to Ms Brooks, Mr Ward has, since the suspension of Ark,
been linked to pension liberation schemes which have attracted
hundreds of fresh customers — something he denies.
He says: “PPS provided information regarding the Ark schemes in good
faith based on the information and opinions provided by Ark and our own
independent research. We included statements that independent
financial advice should be sought and a number of people who did take
advice found the experts they consulted agreed with our understanding
of the position. We believe the damage has been caused primarily by
the Revenue’s failure to take action when it first became aware of the
schemes and by Dalriada’s fees.”
Sam Instone, the head of AES International, says: “We had nothing to
do with the Ark scheme and we earned a negligible amount from our tied
agency with PPS. We have no legal responsibility for what has occurred
here.”
Craig Tweedley, who created the Ark schemes, says: “We took
extensive advice about the validity of these schemes before launch. We
were concerned when we learned that some introducers were claiming
that the MPVA loans did not have to be repaid when a key part of our
scheme was that they should.”
Dalriada says: “The Ark schemes were very unusual and have taken
some time and, unfortunately, money to unravel. The members of these
schemes have been scammed.”
Anyone with information about these pensions “liberation” schemes is
invited to contact mark.atherton@ thetimes.co.uk
Be on your guard against scams
 Ahead of next year’s changes to the rules, one aspect of which
means those aged 55 or over can take money from their pension,
the scammers are gearing up to part you from your cash. Be on
your guard
 If someone promises to help you take money from your pension
pot before the age of 55 it is almost certainly a scam: you could
lose the lot
 Even if you are over 55, do not deal with anyone targeting you by
phone, text message or approaching you in person. Beware the

5. words: ‘free pension review’
 Do not deal with anyone who is not registered with the Financial
Conduct Authority for pension transfers