Van Gossum Consult Investigation Widens

The Van Gossum Consult investigation widens its scope to the Far East, more specifically Singapore and Hong Kong.  In August 2019 Safe Or Scam was commissioned to investigate the scam perpetrated by the bogus Van Gossum Consult. There is a link to our original article at the bottom of this page.

We discovered a relationship between Van Gossum Consult (“VGC”) and another scam operated by St Johns Asset Management (“SJAM”). They used the same money mules to collect the investment money from the victims of both scams.  One of those companies is based in the UK – Crest Security Contracts Ltd.  Other UK-based money mules used by the scams include Uldis Traders and Parkwood Financial Ltd.  Parkwood Financial Ltd is owned and operated by a man called Tommy Bishop, who we refer to as “dopey Tommy Bishop” due to his propensity to make mistakes. He’s not the sharpest tool in the box.  He ran his company from his mother’s home address.  His mother, Julie Barclay, appears to have suddenly come into money and has fled the country to live in Tenerife.

Crest Security Contracts Ltd is owned by a Danish citizen named Soren Andreasen.  With our assistance, one of our clients has begun an action in the UK courts against Crest Security Contracts Ltd and the case will be heard on 6th November 2019.  We expect the client to be successful which will enable us to delve deeper into the company and it will cause a lot of problems for the other parties involved in the scams.

Around February 2019 VGC shifted some of its activities to Hong Kong and Singapore.  It started to use East Lake Investments Ltd of Hong Kong in February 2019 and two Singaporean companies from March 2019 to take in the money from investors.  The Singapore companies are Vesmotion Pte Ltd and VipCo Holdings Pte.  The matter was reported to the UK authorities and we have been advised that it has been passed to the Singapore and Hong Kong authorities.

Vesmotion Pte started life as a website design and hosting company in 2012 under the name of appsmotion.  It is owned by Karen Pang Peng IM, a Malaysian citizen.  Karen Pang Peng Im can be found at the following address:

Karen Pang Peng Im of 259 Kim Keat Avenue, #05-08, Singapore 310259; or

Karen Pang Peng Im, Vesmotion PTE. Ltd, 22 Ghim Moh Link, #27-206, Ghim Moh Valley, Singapore 271022.

Vipco Holdings Pte is a very recent company. It was incorporated in February 2019 so it appears to have been formed purely for the purpose of taking in money from victims of the scam.  The two company directors have questions to answer about their willingness to accept very large sums of money from people they do not know.  The directors are:

1. Sharifah Farhana Syed Sultanul Abidin, a Singaporean citizen who is/has been involved in 38 companies.  She can be contacted at 330 UBI Avenue 1, #03-651, Kampung UBI Estate, Singapore 400330.  Her partner is Risdian Isbintara.
2. Hoang Dinh Phuong Thao, a Vietnamese citizen who describes herself as an entrepreneur and likes to travel around Asia promoting her alleged business skills.  That’s easy to do when you have your pockets full of money stolen in a fraud. When in Vietnam she can be found at 4/2A Tran Khac Chan, Tan Dinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.  You can also see her on this link. 

We have written to all the people involved in these scams, both in the UK and abroad.  Some have replied on the understanding that the information they provide to us remains confidential.  They claim to be innocent parties who have been tricked into getting involved.  Some have not yet replied.  We will continue to chase them and to publicise their involvement until such time as our clients are refunded.

We are interested in the 38 companies in which Sharifah Farhana Syed Sultanal Abidin is or has been involved in and will be investigating further. The Van Gossum Consult investigations widens and will no doubt widen further as more information becomes available.

To view the previous article related to this case please click on this link.

Update March 2020. Since this article was originally published a new scam has been established called Brookfield Investment Funds. We believe this scam is perpetrated by the same people. To view an updated article on Brookfield Investment Funds please click here.