December 2019

TSM Corporate Services Ltd has defaulted on payments to investors. The company started life as M Cullum Consultancy Services Ltd and then became MCI Sales Ltd before finally settling on its current name. To many investors it was known as ‘MCI Developments’ and has been owned and operated throughout by Matthew Cullum who is shown above.

Matthew Cullum and TSM Corporate Services Ltd are well known to us. Matthew Cullum, along with his sidekick Thomas Scotland , has sold many scams to investors over a long period of time. Some of those are mentioned in our blogs e.g Win River Developments, St Helier Capital Management, Essex and London Properties and so on.  See picture of Thomas Scotland below.

Every once in a while the people selling scams change tack and begin to view it as a training opportunity. They think to themselves “Well, if that guy can take that much money from investors and get away with it why can’t I ? I could set something up myself and I’ve even got a template of their contracts so I don’t need to spend any money to produce my own”.

That’s what happened with Matthew Cullum. Having sold 2-year and 3-year bonds on behalf of scammers, he graduated to forming and selling short-term bonds for his own companies. Bonds were produced in the names of MCI Sales Ltd, TSM Corporate Services Ltd and MSE Managed Services Ltd. One of our clients is taking MSE Managed Services Ltd in court later in January, but that’s an article for another day.……

Here is a typical example of how Matthew Cullum and his family operate.

In May 2015 a lady was persuaded by Matthew Cullum and Thomas Scotland to invest £10,000 in a 2-year bond from MCI Sales Ltd (as it was at the time before it became TSM Corporate Services Ltd). The contract committed MCI Sales to pay 8% (£800) on the date of signing of the contract i.e in May 2015, followed by another 8% in May 2016. The capital sum of £10,000 would be repaid a year later in May 2017. Simple enough.

The investor, now a Safe Or Scam client, did not receive £800 in May 2015 so she chased the company for payment. She chased them for payment for the whole year until May 2016. She got nowhere. At that point another £800 was due. It never arrived. More chasing and another 12 months passed without any payment. She was now owed £1,600 in unpaid interest and it was May 2017. The two year term had completed and the £10,000 was due to be repaid. Sure enough, MCI Sales Ltd didn’t repay her. In September 2017 MCI Sales Ltd changed its name to TSM Corporate Services Ltd, presumably in the hope that investors would think MCI Sales no longer existed.

In December 2019 this lady came to Safe Or Scam. This was 4 years and 7 months after she first signed a 2-year contract.  She had still not received a single penny from TSM Corporate Services Ltd. They clearly had no intention of paying her. It transpires that Matthew Cullum used the client’s money for a property venture with his father John Cullum.

In early December 2019 we wrote to Matthew Cullum at the registered office of TSM Corporate Services Ltd. We left him in no doubt as to what we thought of him and his father. We made clear the steps we proposed to take to recover our client’s money.

Our client could not afford legal fees to pursue her claim in court which is why this had dragged on so long. They knew her financial position. We told Matthew Cullum that if he did not make payment before the end of December Safe Or Scam would pay the legal fees for our client and we would take TSM Corporate Services Ltd to court. That is not something we normally do, but this case was very concerning. It was theft – pure and simple, dressed up to look like an investment proposition. They set out to steal £10,000 from a vulnerable person and they must have thought they had gotten away with it. They haven’t.

We will pay our client’s court fees. We will pursue Matthew Cullum and his father John Cullum for the full amount + interest + costs and will update our blog page as the case proceeds.

To view our previous article on MCI Sales Ltd please click here.

To view a recently updated article on TSM Corporate Services please click here.

Nicholas Adamou (born Sept 1962) is a man we suspect of being an accomplice in the binary option fraud involving Derrick Williams of Access Corporate Ltd and Gregory Odia.  The fraud was perpetrated under the name StratXMarkets.

Access Corporate Ltd was a money mule company which collected money from investors for the StratXMarkets fraud.  The company was owned by Derrick Williams and was wound up by the High Court in London in June 2019.  Since that date the perpetrators have frustrated the attempts of investors who are seeking to trace where their money has gone.  Mr Adamou has been contacted by investors but has declined to give information.

In Nov 2014 Access Corporate Ltd notified Companies House that its records were being kept at 36 South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2ET.  That remained the place where all company records were held until mid-2019. It was changed after legal action had started against the company.  Here is a copy of the filing submission Nicholas Adamou – Access Corporate Address

36 South Approach, Moor Park, Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2ET is a residential address.  Records show it is the property of Nicholas Adamou and Caroline Adamou, who were assisted in the purchase of it by loans from TSB Bank, Sotiris Adamou and Vasos Adamou. Here is a copy of the Land Registry document. Land Registry_36 South Approach_Nicholas Amadou

This is also the registered office address of Nicholas Adamou’s latest venture – London Collectors Cars Ltd. Ask yourself, would you buy a used car from this man ?  Here is a link to the Companies House record for London Collectors Cars Ltd

Here is a link to the Nicholas Adamou profile on LinkedIn .  On it Nicholas Adamou states:

“My company offers an extensive professional and confidential service in all aspects of sourcing, verifying and purchasing collectors and classic cars. The company consultants have more than 40 years experience in the classic car industry. This background has given us the tools to develop the strategies to help our clients locate, verify and authenticate any prospective purchase. We also offer a full advisory service from start to finish and comprehensive after purchase service of maintenance, storage and advice.”

This company was incorporated in April 2019.  His last company Spice Europe Ltd was dissolved in late 2015.  It does make you wonder what Mr Adamou has been doing for the last three and a half years while binary option scams like StratXMarkets have been defrauding investors……

In December 2018 a legal document was sent to Access Corporate Ltd at the 36 South Approach address.  It was signed for by Nicholas Adamou.  Here is a copy of the proof of delivery Signature~DW_14th December 2018

In January 2019 a solicitor representing Access Corporate Ltd sent a Witness Statement signed by Derrick Williams to our client.  It refuted all the allegations made by our client, namely that the company had taken receipt of a large sum of money from our client.  It threatened injunctions against our client and contained the following statements made by Derrick Williams:

“I am resident in Spain and have lived in that jurisdiction for many years…..

I am the sole director and shareholder in the company Access Corporate Ltd which has its registered office in Northwood which is my UK residence……” (our bold).   So, Mr Williams regards 36 South Approach, the property registered in the names of Nicholas Adamou and Caroline Adamou, as HIS UK RESIDENCE.  It is no wonder that Nicholas Adamou is being evasive and avoiding answering questions regarding his role in the fraud.

“When the Demand was presented to me in Spain I was immediately incredulous as to the contents and wrote to the Claimant, so called, telling him to cease and desist……”  So, now we know that Nicholas Adamou, who signed for the document, presented it to Derrick Williams in Spain. Nicholas Adamou was in contact with Derrick Williams.

“I do not admit the debt because the allegations…….are entirely misconceived and in any event are unsupported by any evidence……

For the avoidance of any doubt the Defendant disputes any claim as alleged or at all, which is in any event embarrassing for its lack of particularisation……”

We responded to this letter on behalf of our client. As a result of our response this signed Witness Statement was never presented to the court by Derrick Williams, his solicitor immediately stopped working with him and the case against Access Corporate Ltd went ahead.  Access Corporate was not represented and the company was wound up.

We now know for certain that Access Corporate DID receive our client’s money.

Nicholas Adamou was a participant in this fraud and has important information on Derrick Williams, Access Corporate Ltd and others. He can either give it up voluntarily or be dragged into court because that is where this case will end up.  Our experience is that innocent people are always willing to help.  Guilty people do everything they can to avoid answering questions.

There will be more on Nicholas Adamou and Derrick Williams in 2020. We are expecting this to lead to criminal charges.

To view our previous article on Access Corporate Ltd please click here.

Saxon Oil is one of a number of USA oil investments which have been offered to investors over the years. Every single one of them has been a scam.

The early ones involved New Horizon Energy, Swartz Oil, Anglo Oil LLC, Oakmount & Partners and others. These had the grubby fingerprints of Glenn King and David Hyman all over them. Saxon Oil was also linked to these two serial scammers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in the US took action against King and Hyman. This resulted in them changing their business model. Instead of selling direct interests in US oil ventures they switched to selling interests in UK companies. The UK companies would then contract with the US companies on a profit share basis. Basically it was a smoke and mirrors exercise but the end result was the same.  They siphoned off most of the investors money leaving only a small amount to be invested in the oil venture.  Sure enough, all five UK companies which they established and which were fronted by Martin Finch stopped paying royalties to investors.  The scams were then exposed. See the previous article here.

There will be another article on the oil companies before the end of the year.

Saxon Oil has owed a lot of money to its original investors for many years, but that hasn’t stopped it from launching yet another US oil investment in an effort to separate more investors from their money. Saxon Oil has recently written to their original investors promising them their first payment for years whilst at the same time promoting their latest investment.

But…..bad news. Saxon Oil has now had to tell investors that due to circumstances beyond their control the payment has been delayed until the New Year. They soften the blow by telling investors the good news. Their new investment is ready for launch ! However, they inform investors that there is a strict time limit on them being able to invest.  Investors must sign up right now or they will lose the chance. Just for the purposes of clarity in case anyone is considering this as a potential investment, THIS IS A MAJOR SCAM WARNING. SAXON OIL IS A SCAM.

If you would like to see what a basic scam brochure looks like you can download it here: Brochure-Saxon Oil-Investment Scam 1

We have added a watermark on the first page to show what we really think of it. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY MONEY.  YOU WILL LOSE IT.

As investors will know, on 25th November 2019 the Park First CVA Meeting was held.  We have waited until now to pass comment because we wanted to hear whether there is going to be a legal challenge.  We still haven’t heard, but what we do know is that there is a lot of animosity towards the Joint Administrators and the way that they steamrollered their proposals through, with scant regard for due process and the interests of investors.

Our previous articles seen here, cover the fact that the Joint Administrators issued false statements to investors which they only corrected at the very last minute.  It was then too late for investors to register their objections.  The Joint Administrators also refused to release the creditor list to investor representatives so that investors were unable to join together to voice their objections to the CVA.  The list was only released late in the day when the court instructed the Joint Administrators to do so.  Yet whilst investors were kept in the dark about each other, the Park First organisation was encouraged to email and phone investors making false statements and lobbying for support.  It is no wonder that the Joint Administrators’ CVA proposal was waved through on the day.

However, that was not without controversy.  Many investors have reported that it was a car crash of a meeting with the Joint Administrators unable to answer even the most basic questions.  This is not the end of the process.  It is only the beginning and investors will have more opportunities to force an investigation.  This Park First CVA meeting will be followed by more in the future as investors continue to force the issue.

It’s fair to say that the Joint Administrators have not covered themselves in glory.  We have been inundated with comments from investors.  Some attended the meeting and others are just angry at the underhand methods employed.  It beggars belief that the Joint Administrators were not able to provide independent verification of the votes cast and they just expected investors to take their word for it.  These are the Administrators who can’t find £115m and falsely told investors that they would lose £33m if they didn’t support their CVA proposal. 

We will leave the last word to a couple of investors who wrote to us. Here are their comments:

“Regarding the Park First meeting held on the 25th. It seemed to be another inconclusive shambles with attending investors not being able to get questions answered or votes independently counted/checked.

Surely this scam should not be allowed to continue and the FCA and fraud agency Action Fraud should become involved on behalf of protection for investors.

Investors like myself need help and the owner Toby Whittaker removed. [He should] be forced to account for £230M of our money.  Please help”.

And one from another investor who pulls no punches.  The email below was sent to Finnbar O’Connell of Smith and Williamson.

“We all know the voting was rigged, group first directors, contacted investors asking and influencing how they vote.

Sorry Finn you are scum and you know this is all wrong, all the money in the world won’t make you happy and your good reputation is none existent, the only clients you have are criminals”. 

Many investors have raised questions over the honesty and integrity of the Joint Administrators, but perhaps not in such a forceful tone.  Feelings run deep when ordinary investors are facing severe financial difficulties and large organisations run rough shod over them, seemingly without any respect for the truth or any sense of fair play.  There are no public records which provide information on how many criminals have appointed Smith and Williamson.