"We need to see tougher penalties such as hefty monetary fines to make it clear that this behaviour will not be tolerated."
Karl Dunlop, director of Imperial Trustee Services, and Ian Dunsford, director of Omni Trustees, agreed to voluntary bans for failing to act in the best interests of pension members and subsequently failing to ensure investments were adequately diverse.
Stuart Greehan, director of Sycamore Crown, also agreed to a nine-year voluntary ban as a result of false and misleading statements made to encourage investors to transfer their pension pots.
And despite not formally being appointed a director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings, Stephen Talbot accepted a nine-year disqualification undertaking for failing to explain what happened to millions pounds worth of assets.
The introducer firms cold-called members of the public, inviting them to transfer their pension pots into SIPPs and pension schemes operated by Omni and Imperial, who provided trustee and administrator services for two occupational pension schemes – Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme and Capita Oak Pension Scheme.
However, investigators found that the introducers misled clients about their expertise and experience, offering ‘guaranteed’ returns designed to encourage them to transfer their existing pension funds.
As a result, more than £39m was paid into SIPPs, over £10m into COPS and more than £8m to HRBS. Members’ funds were then largely invested in unregulated investments in storage units which ultimately did not yield the level of returns promised to members.
Ken Beasley, official receiver for the Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said that unfortunately he has seen an increase in cases where members of the public have been persuaded to transfer their hard-earned pension pots into new schemes on the basis of unsubstantiated promises of higher returns which inevitably never materialise.
However Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, believes that a ban does not go far enough in deterring scammers.
She said: “A ban from being involved in pension transfers is not a strong enough deterrent for other pension scammers. We need to see tougher penalties such as hefty monetary fines to make it clear that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
"A cold-calling ban is in the pipeline but for every week it’s delayed, more people’s pensions are put at risk from well organised groups intent on separating people from their lifetime savings. We need to see more effective regulation to allow providers and trustees to stop suspicious transfers.
“Regardless of this, people need to be on their guard and look out for warning signs, such as cold-calling, the promise of high returns, and unregulated investments.
“The recent ScamSmart campaign from the FCA and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) aimed at preventing pension fraud should help keep the threat of pension scammers in the spotlight.
“Educating the public is a step forward, but consumers are crying out for a solution now, which can only come through a joined up approach between the regulators and the government.
“The government needs to treat this as a priority. Until then people’s savings will continue to be treated as a honeypot for fraudsters, who constantly find new ways to trick them and steal their lifetime savings.”
