A company that had been duping overseas property investors has been formally wound up by the High Court.

SMI (Overseas) Limited had promised to help people get rich by investing money in the off plan Spanish and Turkish property markets. But despite taking substantial amounts from investors after the Department of Trade and Industry investigators said they could find ‘no evidence that any properties had been purchased by the company’.

SMI directors, who claimed investors could build up multi-million pound international property portfolios generating substantial rental income, refused to cooperate with the DTI investigation, or to provide company accounts and records. The company, incorporated in October 2004, had filed no accounts or returns at Companies House.

The petition to wind up the company had been issued in March this year when the Official Receiver was appointed provisional the liquidator. The action followed investigations into two similar companies, Sterling Mansion (UK) Limited and Mansion Investments Limited. These were both wound up in the public interest in May.

When incorporated – as Sterling Mansion (International) Limited) – the directors of SMI were Tina and Philip Waterfall, both also directors of Seal Properties Limited, and Furniture Right Limited – both wound up in the public interest last May.

In all the DTI took action against six companies last May, two already in liquidation, which it said had common ownership links. They were Sterling Mansion (UK) (in liquidation), Mansion Investments (in liquidation), SMI (Overseas), Turningpoint Seminars, Portfolios of Distinction, and CM2 Services.

Sterling Mansion (UK) and Mansion Investments offered to help clients build £1m buy to let property portfolios within a year in return for a fee of up to £33,000. Turningpoint Seminars operated £6,000 courses for prospective investors, teaching them how to acquire buy to let properties without payment of a deposit. Portfolios of Distinction offered a similar scheme to build a £1m property portfolio for a fee of up to £50,000.

CM2 Services offered an investment scheme to members of Portfolios of Distinction and Turningpoint Seminars enabling them to invest in the purchase of uncollected debts. Investors were told that collection of these debts would provide returns of up to 100 per cent within 12 months.

At the time the DTI said that although many schemes were respectable and had helped investors, the public should to be particularly wary of those that invited investors to a free presentation at which they were persuaded ‘to hand over thousands of pounds’ for courses promising to teach them how to make money dealing in property.


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