FSA: UKLI Scheme was an unauthorised CISAn FSA spokeswoman confirmed that operating an illegal investment scheme would be covered under criminal offences in the UK but declined to comment on whether any criminal investigations or charges had been made in relation to UKLI.
(Via The Times Online. To read the full story, click here)
Related PropertySCAM articles:
Greg Mulholland writes to UKLI
Land banking and collective investment
Land banking and collective investment (continued)
Petition to wind up UKLI Limited
UKLI Limited (in Administration)
Did you pay for your plot by credit card?
Other links:
FSA seeks to close landbanking company at FT Adviser
High Court to close £69 million landbanking scheme at citywire
Illegal 'landbank' scheme closed at BBC news
FSA puts UK landbanking firm into administration at MoneyMarketing
FSA closes down illegal investment scheme at Reuters
U.K. Financial Regulator Asks Court to Shut Down UKLI at Bloomberg.com
FSA seeks to close down 'landbanking' scheme at Money extra
£69m landbank scheme closed at aboutproperty.co.uk
FSA calls for closure of 'landbanking' firm at London Stock Exchange
‘Good news’ for village as land sale firm goes bankrupt at getwokingham.co.uk
1. Pluto04/06/2008 14:05:34
It's good to see you back Property Scam.
There have been no entries on your site since the 2nd May, where have you been for 5 weeks?
2. PropertySCAM04/06/2008 14:23:24
Hi Pluto.
We've been washing our hair.
3. Mike05/06/2008 23:09:50
Yes welcome back. Your site is much needed. As a previous intemperate poster i would like to apologise if i contributed to your holiday.
Any chance the FSA will send their press release to foreign news agencies ?
The land banking companies defence is you cant predict the future therefore how do you know this isn't the big one ? That is also used as a legal defence and as a reason why local consumer organisations should take no action.
While not mentioning any company would it not be fair for UK authorities to publicly say that no investor in UK land through a plot based Land Banking company has ever made money and most have lost most or all of their money ? That is a true statement and realistic about the opportunity.
4. PropertySCAM06/06/2008 09:02:08
Mike, it is true that few plot buyers have ever made money and that none have made money due to onward sale of a plot to a developer.
Those few that have made money did so in the early days by reselling their plots either to or through the land banker. Profits made were very small anyway, a few percent and not the several hundred percent promised, but this did make it possible for land bankers to claim that their clients were making money and thus to draw other investors in.
It is more of a stretch to say that all plot buyers have lost all of their money. Many buyers have of course but there remain many land banking schemes that have never been subject to FSA action or officially designated unauthorised CIS. Unless ultimately revealed through FSA/DTI action or by any other official means to be unlawful, we must presume that these schemes are lawful and that there exists a chance, albeit an extremely small one, that investors will achieve a profitable exit.
What is needed now is:
1. An increase in the pace of FSA action against land bankers. There are many more still operating. In our view they are all CIS and should be subject to regulatory scrutiny.
2. Charges brought against the officers of at least some of these companies. Operating an unauthorised CIS is a criminal offence and yet, so far as we are aware, no charges have ever been brought against any officer of a landbanking company which has been proven to have operated an unauthorised CIS.
5. John07/06/2008 17:50:00
I find they still have operation overseas, such as India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. What will happen to the overseas investors?
6. PropertySCAM07/06/2008 18:21:58
Excellent question. We await the answer with great interest.
7. Imran07/06/2008 19:01:22
In UK they sell this land with the pitch of 300%, in India and Pakistan with 400% and in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong with the pitch of 800% returns..... seeing just this one can imagine what the real picture is
8. John08/06/2008 13:17:02
There is another smiliar company:
http://www.profitableplots.com
they have operations in those areas too:
Thailand Brunei Canada Hong Kong Indonesia Malaysia Singapore
is it a smiliar case at ukli ?
9. David08/06/2008 14:18:22
Homepage: http://www.oilestates.com
Hello Hello,
Any news on Land Internatioanal ? I just found out that the money from Land International Far East has gone into another likely scam company called www.oilestates.com which has the same office addresses as www.landintfe.com in Malaysia, Dubia, India, Hong Kong, Indonisia, Singapore & Thialand.
David
10. comment posted by [removed]12/06/2008 11:44:41
[comment removed - see PropertySCAM comments policy]
11. comment posted by [removed]12/06/2008 12:59:20
[comment removed - see PropertySCAM comments policy]
12. ian12/06/2008 15:11:34
The server used by profitable plots.com houses
1. Chateaugrandmonceau.com
2. Concordevillage.com
3. Leadingland.com
4. Lucentland.com
5. Presidentland.com
6. Profitable-people.com
7. Profitablegroup.com
8. Profitableplots.com
9. Profitablepremiums.com
10. Profitableprivileges.com
11. Strategicplots.com
13. PropertySCAM12/06/2008 15:45:05
How would you know this, Ian? And why is it relevant?
14. Mike23/06/2008 12:25:30
I think a point to be made from the above perhaps is that Land banking companies do tend to multiple stuff sites with positive webitorial messages. Apparently 80% of people never look past the first page in google and less than 5% of the remainder look past page 2 so owning the first 10 listings with a positive message is important.
Even after the problems that UKLI have had, the majority of sites on the first two pages of Google are still saying what a great investment it is. (I dont agree by the way)
Fortunately to give some balance Property Scam also lists well for a search for most Land Banking companies but not all unfortunately.
15. PropertySCAM23/06/2008 12:54:36
Well, UKLI always tried to do this. They had several web sites and loads of blogs, hosted at Wordpress and similar sites, which were often taken down for ToS violations.
Other land bankers use the power of organic search much less effectively. Many seem actually to prefer to buy clicks instead of trying to rank on page 1 of organic search.
By way of contrast, PropertySCAM lists well for a search on "land banking".
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=land+banking
We understand the value of organic search.
However, returning to the point at #12 above, it is unclear why PP has all these domains. Most host no content so it can't be for the benefit of search.
It is also unclear what agenda is served by mentioning all of these domains, but we doubt whether "ian" will be back to offer an explanation.
16. David23/08/2008 05:51:47
Homepage: http://www.landwealthcentre.com
Hello Hello,
I see that Land Internatioanal have now been closed down by the FSA in the UK. I just found out that the money from Land International Far East has gone into another likely scam company called www.landwealthcentre.com which has the same office addresses as www.landintfe.com in Malaysia, Dubia, India, Hong Kong, Indonisia, Singapore & Thialand.
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