Brisa Investments Plc

Brisa Investments Plc

Brisa Investments Plc is yet another unregulated and high-risk investment opportunity set up by  Steven Wright and Lee Smith and recommended by Cherish Wealth Management.

Formed in November 2013 and launched at the end of April 2014, the venture centred around an exciting opportunity to invest in overseas property via a Brazilian condominium development. By the time they stopped accepting investments at the end of September 2016, investors had committed £1,128,400.

As with InvestUS, the carrot for investors was the promise of double-digit interest rate returns. The latest audited accounts for Brisa to March 2017 explain more fully how the funds have been used, and the unlikely prospect of investors ever seeing their money again. 

Paralleling InvestUS, investments taken via cash or SIPPs firstly found their way to Global Custodial Services, to be held on behalf of Brisa Investments Plc. Thereafter the funds were immediately lent to Digbeth Investments Limited, secured by a bond and floating charge over Digbeth’s assets.

Interest was to be charged at 12%, with 1% being retained to cover administrative costs and 11% to be passed on to investors. Sadly the interest payments from Digbeth soon dried up before finally stopping in November 2016, with 2017 accounts disclosing £34,000 as uncollected. 

With no interest income, Brisa failed to make payments to investors. To make matters worse, the auditors felt a duty to report their concerns over the financial viability of Digbeth and as to whether they would be in a position to repay the first tranche of loan funding on maturity as at 30th April 2019. 

In light of the lack of sufficient, appropriate audit evidence, auditors were unable to corroborate the director’s assessment that Brisa Investments was in a position to continue as a going concern.

If you made a cash or SIPP investment into Brisa Investments Plc, or were persuaded to transfer your pension into a SIPP or engage in any other type of pension transfer and have lost money, Beat the Banks are here to help. To find out more, simply complete our enquiry form or call our expert team on 01382 200474.

A gamble that wasn’t worth taking

As with all such cases, at the beginning of the timeline there’s a well-meaning man or woman who simply wanted to make the most of their savings in order to enjoy their retirement. It’s tragic that so many ordinary people were hoodwinked into a scheme that, with hindsight, seems far more of a gamble than it ever needed to be. By the time those investors learned their lesson, it was all far too late.

Many investors were naïve enough to trust the advice they were being given, perhaps not realising just how much commission was being paid to the advisor. They were told that schemes such as Brisa Investments could be trusted, but of course, advisors had a strong motivation to say whatever needed to be said in order to get people to sign on the dotted line.

Many of the companies involved in schemes like this have folded, and those who offered advice have moved on to other roles, but the people who invested are left with nothing but disappointment. Here at Beat the Banks, we work hard to find the justice these men and women deserve, so if you lost money via Brisa Investments, you need to be speaking with our friendly, understanding specialists.

It’s not easy to pick yourself up again after such a major disappointment, but you could be due compensation for your loss. One conversation with our team could be all that’s needed to start the ball rolling, so please use the online contact form or call 0800 193 1234 today.