TONY HETHERINGTON: Hoffman Chase cognac funding leaves dangerous style

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, preventing readers corners, revealing the reality that lies behind closed doorways and successful victories for individuals who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out the way to contact him beneath. 

A.T. writes: I’ve acquired an unsolicited electronic mail from an organization referred to as Hoffman Chase. 

It claims to offer high-return investments in cognac, however whereas it solely seems to have opened for enterprise in January, a few of its beneficial opinions on Trustpilot have to be pretend as they discuss with investments made months in the past. 

Tony Hetherington replies: Well noticed! Trustpilot had already deleted some opinions for Hoffman Chase, however extra remained. They included one from ‘Michael Peters’ who claimed to have invested final August: ‘My assortment has already elevated in worth after just a few months.’ 

And ‘Christie Reynolds’ advised Trustpilot she invested final May, saying: ‘I’m fairly new on this market, however I’m positive they only gained a really loyal buyer.’

Bizarre: Hoffman Chase says traders might lose every little thing

I highlighted these to Trustpilot, they usually have now disappeared. Trustpilot advised me: ‘In the case of Hoffman Chase Ltd, because the starting of the yr, our fraud detection software program recognized and eliminated 43 pretend opinions.’ 

The cognac firm was given a warning and advised to wash up its act, however this didn’t work.

Trustpilot stated: ‘We have additional proof to counsel Hoffman Chase Ltd has continued to obtain pretend opinions.’ Another dozen have now been deleted. Trustpilot has posted a shopper warning on its web page in regards to the firm, and demanded that Hoffman Chase take away the pretend opinions.

The bogus write-ups are just the start of the questions although. Hoffman Chase tells traders that their cognac is protected as a result of it’s saved within the London Wine Tunnels the place it’s absolutely insured. 

There is not any such firm because the London Wine Tunnels, however there’s a real storage firm referred to as merely The Wine Tunnels, with services in Kent and Wiltshire. Could this be it? 

Definitely not, in keeping with its director Sarah Labat. 

She advised me: ‘We can 100 per cent affirm Hoffman Chase should not a shopper of ours. We have by no means spoken or had any contact with them, and they aren’t an organization we’ve got beforehand heard of within the wine and spirits UK market.’

And if traders’ cognac is safely saved and insured, how does this clarify the curious assertion Hoffman Chase shows on a separate web site at cognacinvestment.com?

It warns nobody ought to make investments ‘until you’re ready for the potential for dropping all invested funds’. What might go so badly unsuitable traders would lose each penny?

I put this query and others to Hoffman Chase’s sole director. She is Thea Hoffman, from Brighton, and I requested the place she acquired her experience in cognac funding as the one background I discovered confirmed she labored for an area property agent. 

I additionally requested in regards to the pretend opinions, a few of that are copied phrase for phrase from elsewhere. Until she took over and altered its title, her firm was referred to as Apex Gallery and was owned by artwork vendor Ryan Marsh. The Hoffman Chase web site promoting cognac didn’t even exist.

Hoffman replied: ‘This is extraordinarily complicated. I’ll assessment your factors and reply again shortly.’ But she did not reply any questions on her cognac, its storage, insurance coverage, or her data of the enterprise. 

Bizarrely, her solely response has been guilty unknown individuals who she says have chosen to position pretend opinions on Trustpilot. She advised me: ‘It actually appears some haven’t been genuinely left. We have reported quite a few unrecognised opinions ourselves and as you possibly can see, they’ve been eliminated.’

Its web site boasts: ‘At Hoffman and Chase, transparency is the bedrock of our philosophy.’ But solely till somebody asks awkward questions, it appears. This cognac scheme leaves a really bitter style.

WE’RE WATCHING YOU 

Two weeks in the past I reported that hashish funding firm Orange River Capital had did not pay a promised dividend to traders who had purchased desire shares. 

The shares have been marketed since 2022, with a set dividend of 15 per cent, however they provide traders no say within the operating of the corporate, managed by its sole director Lee Farbrace.

I warned two years in the past the share supply doc was riddled with falsehoods. Farbrace has filed no accounts since these for 2021, which is an offence. Investors have been advised their cash was used to purchase a minority stake in Greengrow Capital, a South African firm stated to function a medicinal hashish plantation.

Missing cash: Cannabis funding firm Orange River Capital has did not pay a promised dividend to traders

Now, in a press release to his traders, Farbrace has blamed his companions in South Africa for his personal failure to pay traders, saying they put an excessive amount of effort into analysis. 

He advised shareholders: ‘The undesired impact of in search of scientific breakthrough above profitability is that Greengrow has not commercially produced income to satisfy a distribution to Orange River Capital, and due to this fact ORC is unable to pay its 2023 dividend.’ No accounts have been issued for Greengrow.

Farbrace’s answer is to ask traders for extra money. He is providing the identical fastened dividend desire shares to boost a contemporary US$1.2 million to assist new administration in South Africa, he claims. 

He emphasises ORC owns 49 per cent of Greengrow, however with no accounts for both, it’s inconceivable to reply the query: 49 per cent of what?

If you imagine you’re the sufferer of monetary wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or electronic mail [email protected]. Because of the excessive quantity of enquiries, private replies can’t be given. Please ship solely copies of unique paperwork, which we remorse can’t be returned.