Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday’s star investigator, battling readers’ corners, revealing the truth behind closed doors and winning victories for those left penniless. Find out how to contact him below.
Silence: Former footballer Sam Williams is listed as the owner of Linc Drinks
HE writes: I received an email offering me a Linc Drinks loan bond with a 12 percent yield. Is this another case of an investment too good to be true?
Tony Hetherington replies: Yeah! The email he received says Linc Drinks is raising more than £3m through its bond issue and the company is estimated to be worth £150m in December.
It says the drinks business is “perfectly positioned to be acquired” by a major drinks company such as Diageo. Total rubbish!
What the email didn’t highlight is that those bonds will be converted into shares of Linc Drinks. But the company is not publicly traded, meaning shares cannot be converted into cash. The message does not explain the conversion terms or say whether investors have the option to withdraw their money.
He claims it is from an investment company called Millbak. There is a real company with this name but it is also a victim of Linc Drinks. Her boss, Stuart Gibbons, was persuaded to become a non-executive director and help her raise funds, only to discover that his name and that of his company were being misused.
The tricksters behind the email created a ‘shadow’ version of Millbak with a website millbakcapital.com.
It stated: “Millbak Ltd is owned by Citrus Fund Platform, regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.”
Linc Drinks said Millbak boss Gibbons “is the founder and owner of our regulated client onboarding partners, Citrus Fund Platform, which is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.”
Stunning claims, so I asked the Jersey regulator if Citrus was allowed to lend its name to the bond offering and if Gibbons really owned it.
Citrus? The FSC offered no response, so I went to St Helier, the capital of Jersey, and stood outside the FSC headquarters with evidence, but the watchdog refused to meet me.
An email said it would “review the information.” Since then, the only communication from FSC has been to ask me to hand over all documents while refusing to comment or even say what Citrus was allowed to do under the terms of its registration.
My trip was not in vain because I entered the impressive Citrus offices. I asked to see Gibbons. The receptionist had no idea who he was and said no one had heard of him.
So I contacted him in London and told him that, according to Linc Drinks, Citrus in Jersey “brought in” its investors. He said, “One hundred percent wrong.”
He told me he knew “nothing about” the millbakcapital website and became furious: “This is scandalous.”
So how had he been dragged into playing any role at Linc Drinks? Gibbons told me: “I know Amit Kochhar, he’s my connection to Linc Drinks.”
If the name Kochhar sounds familiar, it’s because last Sunday I reported that his cannabis company, Cannadex, defaulted on its loan bonds. Now here it is, with a new bonus offer.
Linc Drinks is owned, in theory, by former Aston Villa footballer Sam Williams, but his own office in Mayfair did not appear to recognize Williams’ name and did not return my call. Kochhar did not speak any more.
Gibbons said: “I have issued a cease and desist (letter), so I hope that the millbakcapital website and the reference to me or Millbak and Citrus will be removed.”
He has also managed to lock £30,000 in the investment process and this is being returned.
It is unknown what will happen to the money already invested in Linc Drinks’ poorly sold bonds.
If you believe you are a victim of financial irregularity, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large volume of inquiries, it is not possible to provide personal responses. Please only send copies of the original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.