The 230 buyers owed £18m from collapsed lender Fortress
Manchester United footballer Scott McTominay, Shane Lynch from Boyzone and a south London church are amongst tons of of buyers allegedly owed £18million by a collapsed lender that was run by a former bankrupt.
Fortress Capital Partners are stated to have borrowed cash from buyers earlier than lending it at larger rates of interest to debtors, together with Gareth Southgate‘s agent Terry Byrne.
It reportedly loaned a number of massive sums earlier than going into administration in September. Some 230 buyers are thought to threat shedding out, with Lynch stated to be owed virtually £730,000 and Mario Falcone, of The Only Way is Essex fame, additionally stated to be owed a six-figure quantity.
Fortress was run by Ashley Reading, 54, whose 23-year-old daughter, Cameron, is McTominay’s girlfriend. He owes £1m to the agency, The Times reported – citing insolvency practitioners.
An organization reportedly owned by Byrne, 57, is claimed to owe about £12.5m to Fortress.
Shane and Sheena Lynch pose for a photograph earlier than showing on This Morning in 2021
Other buyers in Fortress reportedly embody worshippers on the Tab Church in Lewisham, the place Mr Reading was baptised, and Kevin Maxwell, son of the late media baron Robert Maxwell.
Administrators from Begbies Traynor are investigating the collapse and an alleged massive hole between the cash lent by Fortress to debtors and quantities owed to buyers, the newspaper experiences.
It is estimated that Fortress buyers will get again solely about 10p within the pound. Ashley Reading is claimed to be ‘completely satisfied he can repay all people’, The Times beforehand reported.
Other debtors of Fortress embody Raglan Country Estate, a golf course and resort in Wales, the publication experiences, through which Ashley Reading is a shareholder. Raglan ceased operations after Fortress’s collapse.
McTominay’s girlfriend, Cameron was beforehand Fortress’s head of investor relations and described as an ‘integral a part of the Fortress Capital workforce’.
Scott McTominay on a night out along with his associate, Cameron Reading
Cameron Reading, who shares pictures of her lavish life-style with the footballer on Instagram, additionally beforehand labored along with her father Ashley Reading as a ‘monetary adviser’ at Bounce, an organization beforehand run by him.
Fortress was not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, the newspaper experiences, and buyers had been informed in ‘small print’ that they’d not have the safety of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Administrators at Begbies are understood to be taking authorized recommendation on whether or not Fortress ought to have been regulated by the FCA, in accordance with The Times.
In a press release to Mail Sport, Byrne stated: ‘We are working with the expertise concerning the repayments. The most necessary factor to me in all of that is that they’re repaid absolutely.’
The MailOn-line has beforehand reported that Byrne, a widely known determine within the soccer business who used to handle David Beckham and Pele, owes cash to a number of former England gamers after allegedly investing their cash with out their consent.
Byrne is claimed to owe funds to Gareth Southgate, Joe Cole and Glenn Hoddle, in addition to Michelin-star cooks. All are shoppers of his company 10TEN Talent, a part of Round World Group.
The buy of big new places of work in central London final 12 months has left a few of Byrne’s companies dealing with the specter of liquidation amid important money owed to shoppers.
Mario Falcone at an awards ceremony in 2018
Byrne informed the Mail on the time: ‘We are working with the expertise concerning the repayments. The most necessary factor to me in all of that is that they’re repaid absolutely.’
Meanwhile, after a collectors’ committee was fashioned in November, considerations have reportedly since been raised with the administrator a couple of lack of independence between some members, the church and Ashley Reading.
One committee member, Sharon Grant, is a solicitor and trustee of the church. She co-hosted an ‘Angels’ Den’ investor-church occasion with Ashley Reading and White, the pastor, in September 2022.
A spokesman for Falcone stated: “Mario and his family are exploring his legal options against Mr Reading. To the extent that there are any funds available for distribution to creditors, of which our client and his immediate family are a part, Mario is dismayed to see that Begbies Traynor will recover £1 million in fees before any distribution is made.”
A spokesman for McTominay stated in November that he had “no involvement” with Fortress. “He did provide a loan, on a commercial basis repayable with interest, for the purchase of a property through an entirely separate entity.
‘He had no involvement with, or awareness of, the wider activities of Fortress, nor of its financial difficulties.”
