Fortress Capital is a Ponzi scheme, administrators claim amid attempt to bankrupt directors
Administrators of an investment firm whose clients comprised footballers and members of a church have labelled Fortress Capital a Ponzi scheme and will seek to bankrupt its two directors.
Insolvency specialists at Begbies Traynor have said that pursuing the bankruptcy of Ashley Reading and his daughter Cameron – the girlfriend of Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay – would allow a full investigation into their personal finances.
The development was contained in a letter to creditors earlier this month, in which the administrators also said: “It’s the nature of ‘Ponzi’ cases such as this, that the costs of seeking to recover assets are high.”
Fortress Capital was an unregulated investment scheme that ignominiously collapsed into administration last September. It promoted returns of 18 per cent a year but the collapse saw some of its investors, which included Gareth Southgate‘s agent Terry Byrne and members of a south London Church, lose the majority of their life savings.
Now, a Metropolitan police investigation is ongoing, and Begbies Traynor is working to recover backers’ losses, some of which are in the multi-millions.
Its collapse then triggered a remarkable and acrimonious insolvency process. Administrators initially alleged that investors’ money was used “for the purpose of the Reading family”, including properties in Spain and Dubai. The homes were in Cameron Reading’s name, who, as well as being the founder’s daughter, was Fortress’s head of investor relations.
But the administration process then became embroiled in a controversy of its own, with the creditors’ committee claiming the process being run by Begbies Treynor was taking too long and costing too much.
Ashley Reading was approached for comment. He has previously said claims about him were “defamatory” and that “all funds raised by Fortress complied with correct processes and protocols… Every penny has been accounted for”.