AMIT ROY | Sunday , May 5 , 2013 |
Hanif KureishiLondon, May 4: An unsuspecting depositor invests in a property deal for a promised 15 per cent return in 120 days, believing he is dealing with a firm of strong credentials, and ends up losing his life’s savings.
If that has been the story of thousands in rural Bengal who put their money in Saradha’s hands, it appears to have also happened to a famous author in London.
Hanif Kureishi, the best-selling author of My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha of Suburbia, has lost £120,000 (about Rs 1 crore), virtually his life’s savings, in a suspected fraud.
It seems the author, much admired for his streetwise novels, was duped by his own accountant.
Kureishi claims he was persuaded to invest in a property deal by his then accountant, Adam Woricker, who was a partner in the respected chartered accountants firm, Fisher Phillips.
The writer thought he was following their advice, but Fisher Phillips said Woricker was acting alone and had sacked him in July last year.
Kureishi confessed he knows little about complex financial affairs but had intended using his savings to cover the “ups and downs” of being a writer.
His plight has been reported widely by The Guardian and other papers.
Last March the accountant was reportedly arrested by Essex police and bailed until May 28. No charges have been brought.
Woricker is thought to have raised similar sums from several other “clients and friends”, according to The Guardian, which has seen a letter he sent to Kureishi using the company email recommending the investment opportunity.
“I’d asked my agent if they could recommend someone to do my accounts,” said Kureishi. “Fisher Phillips sent over a partner and he was very helpful and charming. When he proposed this investment to me, he said many other clients and other writers are making this investment… I said, ‘Great!’ He worked for a very respectable firm that had been in business for 60 years, one that came highly recommended by my agent.”
The letter recommending the investment, sent to Kureishi by Woricker using the company email address, promised a return of 15 per cent on the money, which had to be invested for 120 days.
Outlining the investment opportunity, it said: “One of my clients is completing on a property deal which involves them obtaining around £20m loan facility that they will use to purchase a series of properties. They paid their deposit of around £400,000 and have now been asked for proof of funds for around another £200,000-£250,000 — I have arranged a lot of this already through clients and friends and I have put in £20,000 myself.”
Kureishi, who has been awarded a CBE by the Queen, said he made an initial investment of £50,000. He received the first promised interest, paid into his current account, a sum of £7,500. This encouraged him to invest a second tranche, a further £70,000, in May last year.
“The next thing I know is that I get a call from Fisher Phillips telling me they have sacked him and that I should talk to my lawyers,” he said.
Kureishi went on: “I’ve been told there’s little prospect of me getting my money back. Fisher Phillips has denied all knowledge, refused to apologise to me, refused to make recompense and until this week have refused to meet with me in any way. They said ‘(it was) nothing to do with us’.”
Fisher Phillips, which is thought to have a number of big-name media clients, has strenuously denied its involvement and said its then partner, Woricker, had acted entirely alone.
Robert Ward, partner at Fisher Phillips, claimed that Woricker had offered the investment “in a personal capacity and the firm had nothing to do with it”.
He added: “Fisher Phillips is not authorised to advise clients on this type of investment and we simply don’t do it. We write to our clients telling them this. All the money that Woricker received went to his own account, and not the company’s. Woricker was sacked at the beginning of last July as soon as we became aware of what was happening.”
Kureishi is now bringing a claim, alongside two other victims, against Fisher Phillips.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130505/jsp/frontpage/story_16860954.jsp#.UYYzoqJTCvc
My Beautiful Laundrette author Hanif Kureishi loses his £120,000 life savings in suspected property fraudBest-selling writer was offered 15% return on investment
Fisher Phillips sacked the partner who allegedly made offer and claim he acted alone
'I have been told there is little prospect of getting my money back'
By CHRIS HASTINGS
PUBLISHED: 13:47 GMT, 4 May 2013 | UPDATED: 00:39 GMT, 5 May 2013
Suspected fraud: Author Hanif Kureishi has lost £120,000 in a property investment recommended by his then accountantBestselling author Hanif Kureishi has lost his £120,000 life savings after falling victim to an alleged investment fraud.
Kureishi, best known for his novel The Buddha Of Suburbia and the screenplay for the hit film My Beautiful Laundrette, last night spoke of his ‘hellish’ experience and claimed that other well-known authors may also have been caught up in the same alleged scam.
‘There have been sleepless nights and a genuine feeling of helplessness,’ said the father of three.
‘This money was meant to be for my children’s education and for my future while I worked on another book.’
He added: ‘I think that there are probably five or six more big-name writers caught up in this.’
Kureishi’s ordeal, which is the subject of a police investigation, began when he asked his representatives at The Agency, one of Britain’s most respected literary agencies, to recommend a firm of accountants.
The Agency, which also represents novelists William Boyd and Ian McEwan, suggested a firm called Fisher Phillips, which does its own accounts and also looks after some of its star names.
Kureishi’s affairs were handed over to Adam Woricker, then a partner at the firm, who met the award-winning writer at his London home.
It was at this meeting that Kureishi was first given details of an ill-fated property deal which he subsequently agreed to join.
The first the author knew something was amiss was when Fisher Phillips contacted him to say Woricker had been fired.
Bestsellers: My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif KureishiHe said: ‘Woricker appeared to be a very charming man and a very sweet guy. He said to me that numerous other clients of Fisher Phillips and many of my fellow writers, as he put it, were investing in this particular scheme.’
Kureishi, 58, is now bringing a claim against Fisher Phillips to try to get his money back. He said all his communications with Woricker were through the firm’s email system and he believed Woricker was acting on its behalf.
Kureishi claims Fisher Phillips has subsequently behaved in a ‘disgraceful and shocking way’ and even threatened him with legal action to try to stop him talking about his ordeal.
Fisher Phillips denies it is liable because it had no prior knowledge of the scheme and it sacked Woricker as soon as it was discovered what he was allegedly doing.
A spokesman said: ‘Adam Woricker was dismissed as a partner of Fisher Phillips in July 2012.
'We were made aware that he had been personally involved in raising finance for an investment scheme and we would like to stress that he was not acting on behalf of Fisher Phillips but in a personal capacity.’
Mr Woricker was arrested in March and bailed until May 28. He was unavailable for comment last night.
The Mail on Sunday was also unable to reach anyone at The Agency for comment.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319381/My-Beautiful-Laundrette-author-Hanif-Kureishi-loses-120-000-life-savings-suspected-property-fraud.html