Pensioners caught up in a £2 million-plus trail of heartbreak and misery left by a disgraced financial adviser have called for a new police investigation.
Creditors of Sutton Coldfield-based Greenfield International, which collapsed with debts of more than £2 million, have appealed to detectives to look again at founder Gary Hexley’s defunct empire.
More than 200 investors, including many elderly people in the West Midlands, have been left with losses of up to £80,000 in the wake of the demise of Greenfield International.
The losses piled up while Mr Hexley lived the high life with luxury properties in Sutton Coldfield, Spain and Cyprus, until bankruptcy and liquidations left him with scores of angry creditors seeking compensation.
Mr Hexley’s empire finally crumbled to dust in September last year when his Birmingham-based firm Greenfield International collapsed into liquidation to the horror of investors who had entrusted him with thousands of pounds.
Mr Hexley had been declared bankrupt just months beforehand with liabilities of £979,820. The subsequent collapse of property development firm Greenfield left 237 creditors, many in the West Midlands, with total debts of £2.08 million.
The troubled financier has now been censured and banned by the Financial Services Authority for providing unsuitable investment advice. But investors are furious that no criminal proceedings have been brought against Mr Hexley despite detailed interviews with police officers in Birmingham.
Retired engineer Bill Shackleford, aged 73, of Hopwas, near Tamworth, who lost £32,728, said: “The money was for our retirement, we may have needed it for health reasons or our grandchildren.
“We are bitter, we worked hard for that money, it caused me trouble and strife, with me working the hours I did. The FSA has done nothing really.”
An unnamed investor, who also lost thousands of pounds, claimed Mr Hexley should have been prosecuted – and lashed out at the police.
“We met officers from the Economic Crime Unit. They have had as much information as the FSA but appear to have done nothing about it.
“They say they can’t find anything that is illegal. We have been banging our heads against a brick wall.”
Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell has revealed that he pursued the Hexley case “vigorously” with the police and FSA. But West Midlands Police say no evidence of criminality was found.
The Birmingham Post has obtained documentary evidence of financial transactions undertaken by Mr Hexley and his wife Michelle itemising the withdrawal of funds from Greenfield by the couple.
Joint liquidator Martin Smith from Dains said in a report to the liquidation committee dated March 28 2011: “Prior to paying funds into Greenfield some creditors were informed by Gary Hexley that their deposits would be held in a trust account with a solicitor until all contractual obligations were completed, as a way to safeguard their monies.
“Gary Hexley has since informed me that these funds were never placed into a trust account with a solicitor. He has advised that NatWest insisted that each development needed to be ring-fenced; therefore, Intellectual Property UK was set up for this purpose and funds originally invested or deposited into Greenfield, were transferred to IPUK.
“Further investigations since March 1 2004 show that only £34,542 was transferred directly to IPUK. The records also show that directors, Gary and Michelle Hexley, withdrew regular funds from Greenfield totalling £417,410.”
The report lists 20 other money transfers, ranging from £567,697 to four-figure sums. Several were to firms of solicitors and others to unknown accounts. Meanwhile, Intellectual Property UK is also in liquidation.
In its serving of a prohibition order on Hexley last month, the FSA said it would have fined Hexley £20,000 if he were not already bankrupt.
FSA head of retail enforcement Tom Spender said: “The FSA views Mr Hexley’s conduct in relation to Greenfield was particularly serious.“
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “West Midlands Police have carried out a full and thorough investigation into these allegations. ‘There was found to be no evidence of criminality and the matter was passed to the Financial Services Authority for their attention.”
A spokesperson for Mr Hexley said, in a report to the creditors’ meeting, that Greenfield had been set up to develop 52 flats but was owed more than £2 million by sister firm Intellectual Property.
It states: “The collapse in the property market caused Intellectual Property UK Ltd a number of problems. In the current climate there are no buyers for the apartments that have been built and they are now worth considerably less than the outstanding debts secured upon them.
“This led to Intellectual Property UK Ltd being placed into administration on September 18 2010.
“At this point Intellectual Property UK Ltd owed Greenfield International Ltd £2,075,026.”
