An Insolvency Service investigation has led the UK High Court to order two ‘asset recovery’ companies into liquidation, after their claims were found to be false.
Asset Recovery Associates (ARA) and Asset Recovery Resources (ARR) were incorporated as private companies in July 2011 and December 2012 respectively.
The companies shared the same office address in Warrington, north western England, as well as the same director, Alexander Goodrich.
The two companies claimed to be able to recover funds lost by victims of failed alternative investment schemes.
Cold-calling tactics
ARR’s employees would cold-call victims, who described their behaviour as ‘aggressive and persistent’. The company would then ask for an upfront fee to recover the victims’ funds, claiming they had been appointed by the Insolvency Service to do so.
Goodrich claimed that ARR had been hijacked and he was unaware of the cold-calling practices. He also claimed not to have access to the companies’ accounting records and failed to hand them to the investigators.
David Hill, chief investigator with Insolvency Service, said: “ARR employed aggressive sales tactics to prey on people who had already lost money, seemingly with the aim of scamming them. Members of the public, who have lost money in any kind of investment, should be wary of anyone calling them out-of-the-blue, claiming to be able to recoup their investment losses.
“The Insolvency Service will investigate and shut down the activities of such companies.”
