GUY ADAMS: Vegan influencer and founder of the hate-filled gossip website Tattle Life Sebastian Bond is said to be lying low in Thailand. Now he's feared to be trying to hide his fortune - as a raft of celebrities on his site line up to sue...
Security cameras monitor the driveway, which is protected by a set of tall metal gates, and, when the Mail visited this week, the curtains on every single window were firmly drawn.
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BBC News
15 minutes ago
- BBC News
Police search for boy missing in North Yorkshire river
A major search operation is under way after a boy was reported missing in a North Yorkshire river. Police were told just after 17:00 BST on Saturday that a 12-year-old boy had entered the River Swale in Richmond and not been seen Yorkshire Police said officers had conducted extensive searches with other emergency services including fire and rescue and specialist search services remain at the scene while the searches continue. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
TONY HETHERINGTON: I warned whisky firm would cause a hangover
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. Ms N.P. writes: I bought bonds in beverage company Linc Drinks Ltd and casks of whisky from Whisky&Co Ltd, both promoted by the same sales firm. However, I've just seen that Whisky&Co has gone into liquidation. Now I'm worried about my investments – do you think there is any chance that I'll get my money back? Tony Hetherington replies: I am afraid the picture does not look good. The two companies were promoted by Nicholas James Finance Ltd, based in Canary Wharf, in London. But this firm has never been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to sell investments to the general public. It exploited a legal loophole which let it sell bonds to people who are wealthy enough or experienced enough to take serious risks – and I warned in January that it was not checking that investors would fit the bill before selling them high-risk IOUs issued by Linc Drinks. Linc Drinks wanted to borrow £3 million from investors, predicting it would be worth £150 million by the end of last year and become a takeover target for Diageo, the owner of Guinness. This was total rubbish, and I said so. Whisky&Co sold casks of whisky as investments, claiming that they would be stored at HMRC-approved distilleries in Scotland. In fact, the casks held Irish whiskey, stored in Ireland, where HMRC has no jurisdiction. Nicholas James Finance told investors to expect annual gains of up to 12 per cent, claiming it had a close relationship with top auctioneers Bonhams, but I also reported that Bonhams denied this completely. Now to bring things up to date. Companies House has begun proceedings to strike off Linc Drinks after it failed to file legally due details revealing who owns it. Whisky&Co put itself into liquidation on August 5, and Nicholas James Finance applied on July 22 to Companies House to be struck off and dissolved. Where does this leave investors? The man behind Nicholas James Finance and Whisky&Co is Ashley Wilkinson. I invited him to offer reassurance to his investors, but he has failed to respond. On paper, the director of Linc Drinks is ex-Aston Villa footballer Sam Williams, but he could not be contacted at the business's serviced office address in London and its phone number appears dead. Mail for Linc Drinks now goes to Companies House in Cardiff. The Mail on Sunday passed its evidence on all three companies to the Financial Conduct Authority in January. The regulator rarely comments on active investigations, but it confirmed it had begun enquiries. With all three firms folding, it would be no great surprise to see news of official action very soon. Five in the dock as savers lose £75m in pension pots Thursday will see the appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court of five individuals charged over an investment scheme involving the sale of storage units. The charges follow an eight-year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which says more than 1,900 investors transferred £75 million from their pension savings into the scheme, run by Store First, near Burnley, Lancashire. The company's boss, Toby Whittaker, and Stephen Talbot, Stuart Grehan, Terence Wright and Emma Hawkins face charges of conspiracy to defraud. Talbot and Grehan have also been charged with perjury and – alongside an unnamed sixth defendant – the pair are also charged with money laundering. I reported on Store First in 2013 and after that. Legal restrictions now apply to what can be published. The SFO alleges that misrepresentations were made, including that investors would receive a guaranteed return from renting out units. We're watching you 2 A solicitor closely connected to will writing company Town & Country Law has been suspended from practising law for one month after an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) found his firm – Scunthorpe-based Tyto Law – employed a legal assistant who had been banned from the profession over previous misconduct. Tyto Law boss Oliver Saxon was granted permission to employ Ben Moore only after assuring the regulator that Moore would work from the firm's offices and that Saxon himself would supervise him. Moore was barred from having direct contact with clients. All these conditions were breached, and Moore was in close contact with Town & Country Law, preparing its clients' wills. When this was discovered, the SRA cancelled its permission for Moore to be employed by Tyto Law. Town & Country Law is not regulated by the SRA, as preparing wills can be done by anyone with no qualifications needed. If work has to be done by a solicitor, it instructs Tyto Law, whose owner Oliver Saxon runs an offshoot called Town & Country Law (Two Roses) Ltd. In 2022 I revealed that Town & Country Law's owner James Scotney obtained a credit licence from the Financial Conduct Authority after failing to declare he served a prison sentence for drug dealing. And in 2024 I warned that Scotney employed ex-solicitor Jonathan De Vita, who was struck off after his firm massively overcharged clients, falsified records, and used clients' funds without their permission. We're watching you 3 Three fraudsters have been convicted at St Albans Crown Court of running a wine investment scam, following a complex investigation by Trading Standards officials from Hertfordshire County Council. Investigators say victims lost £6 million. Benjamin Cazaly, Greg Assemakis and Dominic D'Sa were behind Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd. The wine they supplied had a price mark-up of as much as 400 per cent, making profit impossible for investors. The company's sales team was made up of young people schooled in telemarketing, and the movie The Wolf Of Wall Street was used as a training film. Assemakis was previously a director of a similar wine scam business, European Fine Wines Ltd. I revealed in 2013 that two of that company's bosses were forced to quit after being banned as directors for operating rip-off land investment firms. It went into liquidation in 2014, with customers' claims topping £3 million. Claimants finally received 1.4p for every £1 owed to them. If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Moment shoplifter brazenly steals £200 worth of pistachios as shopkeeper blames viral Dubai-style chocolate trend for her 'unusual' spree
This is the shocking moment a woman allegedly stole £200 worth of pistachios from a local health store, with the shopkeeper blaming the viral Dubai-style chocolate trend for the 'unusual' spree. Damian Tapper, 44, who owns the shop in Leeds, West Yorkshire, was left in disbelief after the woman reportedly emptied the entire shelf and walked out without paying. CCTV footage captured the moment she stuffed her bag full of the pistachio nuts, with Mr Tapper reporting that the bizzare theft was not a one-off instance. He said the problem has got so bad, he has had to completely redesigning his store to have lower shelves to increase visibility. Mr Tapper said: 'We realised the whole shelf had been cleared, but only of pistachio nuts - often we do get professional shoplifters, but they'll just clear the whole shelf into their bag. 'But she specifically just targeted every single packet of pistachio nuts off of the shelf, but left all of the other nuts - which is quite unusual. 'We restocked the shelf, and within another couple of days she'd come back and done exactly the same thing, and cleared the other shelf of our own brand pistachio nuts.' Mr Tapper has blamed the viral trend of Asian-style desserts and Dubai-style chocolate, both of which include pistachios, for the thief's choice. He said: 'We're sort of guessing it's because there's such a viral trend for pistachios at the moment, partly because of Dubai chocolate and also the popularity of Asian-style desserts at the moment. 'We're guessing professional shoplifters know there's a market for when there's something they can sell quickly. 'We've had it in the past when certain things have been trending, say protein powder or almond milk, we've had all that stolen. 'It just seems to be that they know they can sell it on quickly. 'I don't think she's sat at home making pistachio cakes.' Now, Mr Tapper, who is worried that word will spread that his shop is an easy target, has made the footage of the incident public in a bid to deter thieves. The footage has already received over 10,000 views on the shop's Instagram page. Damian said: 'Once something like this happens it tends to escalate, because a lot of the shoplifters know each other, and the word spreads that you're an easy target. 'That's why we're wanting to do this publicly, so it shows them we're not an easy target.' West Yorkshire Police confirmed an alleged theft was reported to the force at Out Of This World in Leeds between 3.20pm on July 30 and 3pm on August 7.
