FREE!
NORTH EDITION
Your English Newspaper
Issue 761 @RTNNewspaper RTN Benidorm
roundtownnews.com
16 - 22 MAY 2014
Pension unlocking “disaster” HUNDREDS OF families face financial and emotional meltdown after investing almost £30 million in a ‘pension unlocking’ scheme ruled unlawful by a High Court Judge. by Jack Troughton VICTIMS ARE being hounded to pay back the money they received and could receive a tax demand of up to a staggering 165%. A legal case has been launched against finance companies selling the scheme for negligence by victims Class Action Ark Pensions. People transferred pension pots into schemes run by Ark Business Consulting to exploit a loophole and gain access to their cash before the minimum age of 55. However, following a ruling by Mr Justice Bean in December 2011, a total of 486 people – around a third live in Spain - stand to lose everything in the fallout. Ark ran six pension schemes and allowed a member to withdraw 50% of their savings by making reciprocal loan of equal value with a member in another scheme – the remaining money to be invested in high-return profitable investments – described as “dubious assets” in court. Independent watchdog The Pensions Regulator appointed its own trustee, Dalriada Trustees, to administer the Ark schemes in May 2011, which is now attempting to recover loans and Brian assets – and running up extensive legal fees. Wilson At the High Court, Mr Justice Bean said
the loans between pension schemes were “unauthorised payments” which could not be used as a way of unlocking pension capital before retirement and a “fraud on the power of investment”. The judge accepted that some scheme members had a desperate need for access to their money but the point of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) legislation was to prevent people spending pension pots before retirement. Angie Brooks, a tax barrister and Director of the British Taxpayers Federation between 2003 until she retired to Spain in 2003, is championing the victims’ cause. She told RTN: “There are people out there who are emotionally and financially crippled by this mess. “There have been suicides, nervous breakdowns, people have suffered terrible health problems, and there have been broken marriages. I met one lady in London and have never seen anyone shake like that before.” Angie said pensions and personal finances had been ruined through the “debacle” with the Taxman saying the loans were taxable at 55% at the point they were made, a further 55% where they were received, and the revenue was also looking to tax members 55% whether they received a loan or not. continued on page 3