Three companies that offered investments in sustainable energy schemes have been shut down by the UK high court.
One firm, called Elcourt (but traded as AD Baxton), claimed it provided brokering services and offered investors the opportunity to buy bonds in two other businesses, namely WSR Hawker and Devo Group.
But Elcourt was found to never be present at its registered address and, as a result, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning in April 2019 stating that the “firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation”.
Devo Group claimed it collected used cooking oil from food and catering vendors in the UK and Europe to convert into biodiesel, while WSR Hawker said it operated withing the development of wind power generation sites.
But, just like Elcourt, they had no physical presence at their registered addresses, which prompted the UK Insolvency Service to submit petitions to the courts, revealing businesses to be scams.
‘Fictitious’ trading
The Insolvency Service said that none of the companies cooperated with its investigations and that, based on the information it could retrieve, at least six people had invested money in the schemes totalling £525,000 ($655,122, €583,411).
Irshard Mohammed, senior investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “All three companies fraudulently tricked people into investing in so-called safe and environmentally-friendly businesses.
“However, any trading presented by these companies appears to have been entirely fictitious and from the £525,000 worth of investments we know about, no returns have been received.
“The court thankfully recognised this misconduct and removed the companies from the corporate arena.”
All three firms were wound up “in the public interest” in the high court on 9 June 2020, and the Official Receiver was appointed as the liquidator.
