Recently, I had been contacted by a lady named Laura who had been involved in a pretty bad scam where she was asked to invest money with a company called Milton Hayward[Is this the company's name or the man's name or both?]. Her story is what follows.
Laura's Story About The Milton Hayward Scam
My family and I believe that we have been involved in a large investment scam. We were contacted by a company called Milton Hayward about 8 months ago; they wanted us to invest in a company called 'For-gold'. After careful consideration and further persuasion from Milton Hayward, we did it...we invested and sent a large sum of money over to Hong Kong.
We were dealing with three main contacts at Milton Hayward - John Cannon, Mark Harvey and Micheal Gellard. The investment was said to be a signed deal and we were scheduled to have our money back plus all the extra within 6 months! Then they kept on asking for more and more. We were trapped! We felt scared to lose our money and struggled to hold on to the fact that they were telling us that we would get it back soon.
It is now clear that this is what 'boiler room' scams are all about...but we thought we had checked everything and were too trusting in what they had said.
Our present mission is to find more people that have been burnt by this company in order to fight back. I know we have probably lost all our money but I want to help others and try to make people more aware of the dirty scumbags that are out there!
Have You Been Involved Or Have Information
I really feel bad for Laura and her situation. I've fallen for my share of scams so I know how she feels. The worst part of all: She has been searching the Internet and can't find any info about this scam. I know because I've tried myself.
This is where you come in. If you have any info on this scam please leave a comment below. If you have been a victim of this scam, please feel free to leave your story below as well.
Together, we can all work towards exposing these criminals to prevent others from falling prey to this terrible scam.
Next week Monday I will be posting an article on how to report scams like these and what to do. One thing I've noticed is that once people have fallen for scams like this, they don't know where to turn next. In that post I hope to take some of the mystery out of reporting scams.
Till Then,
Chris
This post was featured in Money Hacks Carnival by The Consumer Boomer.
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How to check legitimate brokers and firms in the UK
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do
The Anderson Munro Investment Club hits page 1 of Google
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=anderson+munro&meta=&aq=0&oq=anderson+mun
Where I give potential investors my very best advice
Macmillan Frasier, Anderson Munro , Milton Hayward and Westernfield holdings are all the same people.
Boiler room scammers,
John Chadwick and John Cannon are the same person from Milton and Macmillan
They are coming to an end soon!
Excellent news Steve – the Power of the Internet People !!!
Hi everyone,
I am very sorry to hear of the problems outlined above and wanted to offer some advice on how to best protect yourself against such schemes. I work within the industry as an Investment Manager at a London based firm, investing principally for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals.
The best means to avoid the scammers is to cross-check anyone who is calling you against the FSA Register; this is a public record of financial services firms, individuals and other bodies which fall under the jurisdiction of the FSA:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do
The search can be run by company name and by surname, (try running a search against my company, “Henderson Rowe”, and surname, “de Rivaz”, as an example.). Ensure that both the firm and the individual you are corresponding with has the correct authorisations, and don’t be afraid to challenge them on this (if they get defensive you know where you stand!)
The following article offers some good guidance regarding best use of the register:
http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/tools/check_our_register.html
I was involved in the Milton Hayward boiler room scam earlier this year and wondered if you have any information that might help or enlighten us. What do you mean when you said ‘they are coming to an end soon’? Really hope this means people know who they are!!!
thanks
I also want to say a BIG thank you to Chris for posting my story on here. We have had it very tough and found it all hard to accept and understand, but it is thanks to people like Chris (and all others) that have posted information and personal encounters that have all helped us deal with what happened. We now just want to help others in the same situation and stop (or even reduce) the scammers scamming others!!
So THANKS CHRIS!!! x
Ben, Thanks for posting that. I am sure that it will be useful to people.
Regards, Chris.
http://internetintelligenceagency.net/
started site but no time to sort copy – if anyone can help out I will add to the site
Westernfield Holdings – no3 on Google
Anderson Munro – no3 on Google
Milton Hayward – no2 on Google
Bradley Hill Holdings not ranking yet
Hi BryGee,
Would you just need ‘our Story’ for the site? i want to help as much as i can but not very familiar with shares etc. i can however give explanations of what happened to us and alos would be happy to put my email address as a point of contact. The more people we find that were involved with the milton hayward scam or had any contact with John Cannon etc the stronger we will be to fight back.
Let me know, my email address is laurauk1@live.co.uk
I invested in BYD shares back in Oct 2009 with Anderson Munro and fear I am a victim of a boiler room scam too. Anderson Munro were so plausible and convincing. I haven’t heard from them since Feb 16th saying the deal had gone through. Despite numerous phone calls, faxes, e-mails etc. They seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. My story is very similar to that of Laura except in our case the shares were BYD and the names were George Cole, Andrew Reed, Peter Davies and Simon Peterson. What can be done?
I wish something could be done but this company is nothing for than an illusion. It seems that names change and locations change and it seems as if these people enter the witness protection program, never to be seen or heard from again. However their is one thing that can help and that is reporting your information. Letting people know about the scam you were invlolved in will help keep others from getting ripped off. If you have any other info to share about this company feel free to leave a comment and help keep everyone informed.
Looks like I am a victim too. Caroline Maurice, John Chadwick, Peter Ward and Andrew Tait are names I have dealt with. Initially in BYD shares (allegedly) which did well and gained my confidence but was persuded to switch to the CGY Mining IPO which has now seemingly stalled. The reports found on Google about Chadwick being appointed and M F being assigned as the CGY reps also helped the confidence.
Scammers are pretty sophisticated and convincing SOB’s. The stocks and shares market has been rife with it for years, just look at the ongoing pump and dumps. The key is to make your own investments, based on your own research. If you don’t understand it, you’re not close to it, don’t do it!!
Dear Chris and fellow Victims,
I got caught by Macmillan Frasier, BYD shares and then CGYN shares – sound familiar(?) and along with everyone else have felt a little powerless to make anything happen. My experience is that you MUST report it to Operation Archway which is the boiler room scam section of the London Met Police. If they get enough reports and especially proof of links to other fraudulent companies, they will refer it to the Serious Fraud Office for their specialist assistance – specifically international fraud. This will help us all to get some justice here.
So please contact myself if you have any queries or just want to hear a sympathetic voice, I am trying to compile a list of investors in order to ascertain whether we have a case to put before the SFO ourselves.
Andy Pedrick, above, is on my list already!
Cheers
Simon
Chris,
Please try and inform people about this great success !!
http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/News-and-Appeals/News/2011/July/July15-Op-Handa-sentencing.aspx
Operation Handa is ONGOING and people should contact DC Winnard – who is a STAR !!!!!
Chris,
This is the City of London Police Press Release about the same arrest and conviction success !
http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/CityPolice/Media/News/220611-boilerroomconviction.htm
Rgds, Chris.
Chris,
This is the BBC reporting on the arrests…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13880599
rgds, Chris.
In December 2010 part of the operation had already been shut down
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8454463.stm
( If it was the same operation ).
This is quite a sweet report for victims – note the heads held in hands as the police raid the ” Boiler Room ” – that would have spoilt their day
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13571531
Hi guys, very sorry to read about this. There is a private firm that tracks these conmen down in Asia as the bad guys mostly wire the funds out of Hong Kong and Singapore to a Caribbean island. They did nail the Milton Hayward guy in the UK as he travelled often. He was hiding out with the rest of the gang in Bangkok. You would be very interested in how these guys operate and the Thais cannot seem to get a grip on them. For some reason a majority are British or Canadian. If you dealt with any of the guys that were mentioned or any offshore investment companies in Japan, Thailand or Singapore it would be best to contact Michael Gage. This guy has a knack for tracking down fraudsters and pinning them down with the cops. Very hands on bloke that gets his hands dirty for the victims. He is based in Japan but is known from Sydney to Tokyo to Bangkok. I hear he works with the UK FSA and FBI at times. Perhaps contact him and he will weigh up your options. Most of these crooks have money stashed somewhere offshore and this idiot Paul Slack has a bunch. He will be right back in Asia after he is released (he has a Thai kid). My guess is Michael Gage will be hanging him off a roof at some point and throwing him right back in jail. If you dealt with Hanover York or any other dodgy financial adviser in Japan it is worth a go. He has helped me a few times and totally trust him…so will leave his company email above.
Cheers and goodluck.
Dave
BTW- that website is http://www.gagemorita.com
Note of caution !!
Be very careful people.
DC Winnard is not aware of Michael Gage ( and he jailed Slack ).
I hope that Michael Gage is on the level – but maybe not
They are the private sector Chris and Slack was scamming with a few other guys (not British) in Thailand and Japan. The victims and Winnard were in the UK where the clients were conned and sent money from. Michael Gage, an associate of mine builds crazy difficult cases (at least to me he does) with evidence and in the scam’s jurisdiction with attorneys and cops. Guess it is all coincidental. Once bitten twice shy I guess for some…at least someone has stepped up for the duped Japanese. Keep in mind someone had to pay the bill for that two year investigation…perhaps the UK tax payers. Cheers, Dave
PS- I did not realise the comments were backlogged for a few years and read through them. Wow. Looks like the crooks you are after is the gang from Japan and Thailand. I also did see a single rant blog written (1 guy only) about M. Gage and he tells me this was a potential client who refused to go through procedure and the bloke tried to blackmail him. Said he needs a court order (CA judge) fighting the 1st US amendment in California to have it removed as Google is in CA… Blog bloke is a cry baby who rants f*** all.
Dave,
Presumably you mean this rant blog ???
http://gagemoritafraud.blogspot.com/
DC Winnard just mentioned this to me.
Regards, Chris.
Yep, that is the one and only on the whole http://WWW..
Hi,
I have heard of G&M as Dave has in Tokyo and they wail on gaijin crooks in Japan/Asia. Met Mr. Mike Gage the MP socially a few times and he was a nice guy but not the kind of guy you want after you or his team. Guy seems underground, lethal, highly intelligent and he stays in the shadows and pulls favor cards within his network. He is fluent in Japanese and speaks a bit of Mandarin and has a perfect track record in Japan but he has only been private for a year or two. Dave sent me this link and with him now for a coffee. Small world. The Slack guy was a scum bag I met a few years ago. Dumb as a rock so not sure how he did this but had help with the crew and names on this thread.
Best,
Peter
On TV in the UK from next Friday
http://www.itv.com/presscentre/fraudsquad/week34/default.html
More arrests and jailings !!
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Boiler-room-fraudsters-jailed-tele-775060553.html
I was approached by someone calling himself Dr. James Bentley from Macmillan Frasier. He tried to convince me to buy shares in a company called Kinross on the NY stock exchange. He was very convincing and I almost fell for it. I even agreed to buy some shares, luckily I didn’t send any money. One of the reasons that I became suspicious was when I tried to telephone him in ‘Taiwan’ a chinese sounding lady answered the phone and spoke very bad English and was not at all professional. When he phoned back he appologised and said ‘he was on the toilet’ when I phoned. This made me very suspicious. Therefore I emailed him asking him to prove that this was a legitimate company that I was dealing with. He rang me and was quite agitated. He said he couldn’t make ‘head nor tail’ of what i was asking. I told him that I was pulling out of the deal at which point he became angry. He threatened me with legal action if I didn’t send the money. I told him that under no circumstances would he be getting a penny from me. That’s the last I heard. Keep well clear.
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