Have I lost the £7,000 I invested in John Burford’s Tramline Traders? TONY HETHERINGTON

John Burford is a financial advisor who appears to be knowledgeable. He invites investors to participate in his Tramline Traders funds.

I invested £7,000 and he promised to buy and sell shares using his trading system, collecting a bonus on any increase in the value of the fund.

However, it says it has closed the funds and the Financial Conduct Authority has taken control of them. JI

Tony Hetherington answers: John Burford is an extraordinary character. He has a PhD in physics and worked at NASA in the United States as part of the project to take men to Mars.

Realizing that the project would not succeed in his lifetime, he says, he turned his mathematical brain to the study of investments and joined a brokerage firm in California.

The 84-year-old financial adviser now lives and works in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where he owns Financial Trading Strategies Limited, which operates his Tramline Traders funds.

Investors can pay £995 a year to join its VIP Traders Club, or £595 to receive an alert when it spots a promising opportunity in the stock market.

But John Burford has a rather serious problem: he has no authority from the FCA to operate any kind of investment scheme or to market information to the public. In short, he is operating illegally.

Last December, the FCA added Burford’s firm to its warning list, saying: “This is an unauthorised firm that may be providing financial services or products in the UK without our permission.”

Investors lose the protection of the FSCS’s official compensation scheme and cannot lodge complaints with the Financial Ombudsman.

In January, Burford told clients: “It is with immense regret that I must inform you that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have closed the Tramline funds.”

He did not mention the FCA, but in April he announced: “Unfortunately, the investment funds you paid into me remain frozen by the restraining order obtained by the FCA, as do all my assets.”

But here’s a curious thing: when you contacted the FCA, a supervisor told you: “I can confirm that we have not issued any restraining order on the fund.”

And here’s something even funnier: despite having said that his assets were frozen, Burford announced that he had made “huge profits” speculating on oil.

On the other hand, several weeks ago he sent a message to investors saying: “I am completely sorry that I have suffered huge trading losses because of you.”

I asked Burford about this, but all he would say was: “I can confirm that the FCA is investigating me and my company.”

And what does the FCA itself say? Very little. Its confidentiality shutters have been closed and a spokesman has refused to confirm or deny that it had frozen any funds or assets.

Indeed, I can report that the FCA has launched Operation Winona to investigate Burford and its funds. I know the names of at least three of the investigators, but I will refrain from publishing them in case they need to remain anonymous in other cases.

However, the FCA must not err. There are questions that need to be answered. How long have they known about Burford’s funds? How much is at risk? Where is the money?

But perhaps most of all, why hasn’t he been stopped?

Burford’s website, tramlinetraders.com, is still online, still inviting new members to sign up and pay, and still reporting profitable trades. What is the point of the FCA denouncing Tramline Traders as illegal and then not shutting it down, backed by a High Court injunction if necessary?

As financial services professionals keep telling me, the FCA and its 5,000 staff are excellent at demanding statistics, publishing diversity reports and considering closing stable doors when the horses have galloped away, but they are not at all good at reacting to a current and active danger to consumers.

Perhaps that is the big truth: that the FCA’s secrecy is really there to protect.

He has told me that he is prepared to coordinate legal action to recover any funds he can from Burford. I will be happy to send you the details of any of his investors who contact me.