On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Heists, Scams and Lies podcast, reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring reveal how commission-hungry financial advisors sold pensioners one of Britain’s largest property frauds.
More than 8,000 investors ploughed close to £400 million into Harlequin Hotels and Resorts, which promised luxury Caribbean villas for as little as £1,000 down.
But behind the glossy brochures and star-studded promotional videos was David Ames, a twice-bankrupted Essex salesman who ran Harlequin solely on investor money.
While promising that external investment was incoming, Ames burned through cash on flights of fancy – spending £1 million on imported sand that simply washed away, building a pirate ship, and launching his own airline, Harlequin Air.
To keep the money coming in, Harlequin offered IFAs (Independent Financial Advisors) commissions of 10 to 15% per sale – triple the industry standard – to flog properties that would never be built.
The majority of Ames’s £400million haul came through self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), with one firm – Tailor Made – funnelling over £50million from nearly 1,000 clients into Harlequin. The firms’ regulated status reassured investors they were making safe choices.
A Harlequin property, not completed, in St Vincent in the Caribbean
More than 8,000 British buyers sank their hard-earned money into the failed Harlequin operation hoping to get a slice of paradise
David Ames, 73, the mastermind behind Harlequin, was jailed in 2022 after being convicted of defrauding investors who ploughed £398million into his schemes
What investors didn’t know was that while the advisors were regulated, Harlequin itself was not – and the Financial Conduct Authority had no oversight of where their pension money actually went.
This legal grey area created what one financial advisor described as a ‘feeding frenzy’, with advisors competing to make hundreds of thousands of pounds in commission each month.
Podcast host Odling explained: ‘David Ames’s son, Matthew Ames, pocketed almost £1 million in commissions before leaving Harlequin in 2008. Every penny of that came from investor’s deposits.
‘I spoke with one anonymous IFA, who told me the atmosphere among the people pushing Harlequin was incredible.
‘He told me that every day was like a scene from the Wolf of Wall Street, with competitions taking place among colleagues over who could make the most cash from it.
‘According to reports, Harlequin used 3000 intermediary sales agents, plus a vast network of IFAs – all earning 10-15% commission on every sale.
‘This network generated a grand total of £80 million – that’s a fifth of the entire £400 million investors lost.’
‘When Harlequin finally collapsed in 2017, investors faced a devastating reckoning. Their Caribbean dream had become a financial nightmare.
‘Pensions were wiped out. Savings were gone. There were loans they couldn’t repay.’
Pension investors could claim compensation through the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme), which paid out £125million. Cash investors got nothing back – creating a two-tier system of victims.
Alan, 82, invested £100,000 and received no compensation. He told the podcast how he now ‘struggles to make ends meet’.
‘I just moved to a two-bedroom flat from a four-bedroom house – to help us bolster up’, the Isle of Wight pensioner said.
‘What we lost, we’re managing, but every month is a case of struggling to balance the pension coming in and the outgoings.’
Hear the full story of how pensioners were betrayed by trusted advisors – including one woman sold the scheme by her son’s godfather. Listen to Heists, Scams and Lies: The Lost Caribbean Millions wherever you get your podcasts.
