The Sunday Mail’s Tony Hetherington, Sunday’s winning detective, battles with readers, reveals the truth behind closed doors and wins victories for those left out of the pocket. Find out how to contact him below.
Gold has always been seen as a hedge in times of economic uncertainty, political unrest and world war.
But how much trust can one place in a counselor who says that lending money to gold Something you should do right now, because World War III is looming, and who is barred from the entire financial services industry?
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected an advertisement by Solomon Global Limited, which promotes investment in metal.
The company said investors could ‘earn 10 to 12 per cent per annum’, adding that ‘gold has returned 11.5 per cent per annum for the past 20 years.’
The ASA ruled that this claim was misleading, as it failed to demonstrate the risks and it was not clear that past performance was no guarantee of future value. The dog ordered the ad not to appear again.
But this closer look at Solomon Global has turned the spotlight on its chief advisor (or chief client). He is Clive Lindsay, although this is only one of his various names, Clive Harris, John Harris and his first title, Clive Mongelard.
Excluded: Clive Lindsay, aka John Harris and Clive Mongelard
Ten years ago, I described him in the Mail on Sunday as ‘a living and breathing example of how wrong it is to protect investors in Britain’. I first warned him in 2014. Later, he founded TM Harris Associates, which sells investments in rare earth metals. Of course, these metals are not rare. The meaning of the name is not found in large quantities in one place.
It is common in batteries and similar products, but there is no two-way market in which Mongelard’s victims can return their investment to the bank.
Mongelard falsely claimed to be one of England’s most famous merchants. Indeed, he is on the Financial Conduct Authority’s public register, claiming to have worked for a number of trading firms. But each collapsed in the face of complaints of misselling high-risk shares to small buyers.
Using the name Harris, Mongelard was also an agent for Green Planet Investment, who defrauded investors of more than £14 million which was supposed to be used to buy land and develop a resort in Brazil.
The customer continued to sell shares in our Price Record with false claims and without authorization from the City Trustee. This is a step too far for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In 2020, he won a High Court case against Mongelard and three others after it was discovered that the agents had pocketed half of the money deposited by the investors. He was ordered to pay the victims, and Mongelard himself was ordered to pay back £1.2 million. He failed to pay the penny and was declared bankrupt in 2021.
In July, the FCA banned Mongelard from any financial activity that required verification, ruling that he was not a ‘good and honest person’ and had shown a ‘lack of integrity’.
Mongelard sells gold, which is outside the jurisdiction of the FCA. A large part of its sales target ethnic minorities. In the podcast he says: ‘This is a good way for us – especially in the black community because we don’t put a lot of our wealth down, most of the debt – to create a legacy.’
He explained: ‘It’s simple… Your money is taken out of the banks, which may collapse soon, you buy gold from me, I send the gold to them, and put them under their beds, by them. wait for it to go up, then sell it.
It looks like a global disaster is about to happen. Mongelard has also posted an article on X (formerly Twitter) which says: ‘Rising threat of World War III could see gold hit $2,800 (£2,200) by Christmas.’ To him, every mushroom cloud is a golden curtain.
His reputation as the ‘Gold Guru’, says Mongelard: ‘Since I saw the power of precious metals, I knew that helping others achieve financial security was my calling. .’
I’m sure this story will comfort all those who lost their savings after relying on his previous sales.
Clive Mongelard and Solomon Global were invited to speak. And it didn’t.
Clerical Medical thinks my wife is another woman
MR writes: My wife and I invested in a bond with Clerical Medical and just decided to cash it out.
For a few years, the annual statements incorrectly showed my wife’s name as Mrs Bray, but other letters showed both of our names correctly.
When the bond was paid, Clerical Medical wrote that £13,485 had been paid into Mrs Bray’s bank account.
I wrote to them about this, but got no reply.
Cash: Clerical Medical said it paid £13,485 into Mrs Bray’s bank account.
Tony Hetherington replied: This is an unusual investigation. You and your wife have no relation to Mrs Bray and have no idea who she might be. However, the letter from Clerical Medical regarding the payment of the bonds disclosed Mrs Bray’s address.
I asked, including where he lived before, and found that at his previous address he was registered under your wife’s name.
I don’t think there’s any real reason for this, or the fact that Clerical Medical called her your wife, even though you live hundreds of miles away. It appears that the company’s customer records were mixed up due to human error.
A spokesman told me: ‘We are sorry for the abuse we have caused Mr and Mrs R.
We have paid the full value of the bond into their account, as well as compensation for the inconvenience caused and lost profits through our fault.’
You now owe a total of £13,485, plus £72 in interest and an extra £500 to apologize for.
If you believe you are the victim of financial fraud, write to Tony Hetherington at Mail Finance, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk.
Due to the large number of questions, a personal answer is not possible. Please send us copies of the original documents, we regret that we cannot return them.
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