The biggest bank fraud in British history carried out on UK shoppers and covered up
“In my position, as you can imagine, I’ve got a few enemies.” An anonymous tip off has contacted the DWP to suggest that Nicholas Wilson is frauding the benefits office. “They sent a letter calling me in for a compliance interview.”
The irony is that Nicholas Wilson is a whistleblower, who has been trying to expose what would be the largest bank fraud in the history of the UK, totalling over £1bn. This is made up of illegal charges imposed by HFC Bank – previously a subsidiary of HSBC, onto unsuspecting UK customer debts on high street store cards.
Wilson was head of debt recovery for Weightmans LLP – a national solicitors firm which acted for John Lewis – for over 25 years. However, in 2003 when John Lewis sold their accounts to HFC Bank, Wilson noticed they immediately began adding “collection charges” of 16.4% to customer store cards in arrears. These charges were illegal.
Wilson spoke up, complaining to staff and colleagues and refusing to work on the HFC account. The charges were being applied to customers already in debt and hardship; a fraud by the second biggest bank on the some of the nation’s poorest, and yet for standing against this, Wilson’s boss dubbed him ‘Mr Ethical.’
By 2006, Wilson was finding the toll of his work unbearable and by now the fraud was being carried out on thousands of people. He reported it to the Law Society (Solicitors Regulation Authority) and was immediately sacked by Weightmans.
“I’ve been campaigning ever since. The SRA upheld my complaint, they said it was unlawful but they didn’t take any action and said it only happened in a small number of cases.”
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I guess this case reflects how the so called establisment cares more about their own greed and profits than being ethical and having integrity something that one used to associate with banks, insurers, solicitors etc etc. Sad reflection of how low things have sunk. Hope the whistleblowers do not get totally discouraged by never getting anywhere against greed and dishonesty hopefully one day they will be fully protected and compensated for their good work ….. I appreciate and applaud their bravery and public duty and scorn those who lie and cheat protected by regulatory and higher bodies who through greed and power turn a blind eye….
Of course if he was working in the public sector he would be protected both legally and by most the media industry too. Mr Wilson is a brave man of great integrity. In England financial institutions have bought all significant sectors of the legislature (namely, our government, and past ones as well). Mr Corbyn is the exception, but they are doing their up most to destroy him.
shant
Nothing new here, move on;
Market Crashes: The South Sea Bubble
By Andrew Beattie
When: 1711
Where: United Kingdom
The amount the market declined from peak to bottom: Stocks in the South Sea Company were traded for 1,000 British pounds (unadjusted for inflation) and then were reduced to nothing by the later half of 1720. A massive amount of money was lost.
Synopsis: In the 1700s, the British empire was the big dog on the block, and that particular block spanned the entire globe. For the British, the eighteenth century was a time of prosperity and opulence, meaning a large section of the population had money to invest and were looking for places to put their money. So, the South Sea Company had no problem attracting investors when, with an IOU to the government worth £10,000,000.00, the company purchased the “rights” to all trade in the South Seas.
The few companies offering stock at that time were all solid but difficult investments to buy. For example, the East India Company was paying out considerable tax-free dividends to their mere 499 investors. The SSC was perched on top of what was perceived to be the most lucrative monopoly on earth.
The first issue of stock didn’t even satiate the voracious appetite of the hardcore speculators, let alone the average investors who were assured of this company’s coming dominance. The popular conception was that Mexicans and South Americans were just waiting for someone to introduce them to the finery of wool and fleece in exchange for mounds of jewels and gold! So nobody questioned the repeated re-issues of stocks by the South Sea Company–people just bought the expensive stocks as fast as they were offered. It didn’t matter either to investors that the company wasn’t headed by experienced management. Those who lead the company, however, were born public relations directors, who set up offices furnished with affluence in the most extravagant quarters. People, once they saw the wealth the SSC was “generating,” couldn’t keep their money from gravitating towards ……
http://www.investopedia.com/features/crashes/crashes3.asp
You would think that after over 500 years of Swindling by the Sin City of London, we would know how to deal with criminal swindlers of the Public…NAW! THEY CONTINUE AS THEY BEGAN.
Has above pure greed but without whistle blowers we wouldnt find out another way of fleecing the peasant
What a shame that the Labour Party, just like all other British political parties, do nothing for whistle blowers.
Why, then, did you single out Labour?
You could have written, “What a shame that no British political party does anything for whistleblowers.”
It would have taken less effort.
Have you got an axe to grind? I think you have.
Yes, I do have an axe to grind. I want to know why the Labour Party does nothing for whistle blowers in the UK – is that unreasonable? You are a Labour Party-supporting blog, I thought you might know why. It seems contrary to the principles that you allegedly hold dear. D’you have any idea? I understand – as I’m sure you do – that Tories don’t offer support for such folk, that’s why I never spoke about them. Maybe Labour’s similarity to the Tories in this field is another reason why they lost in May.
Why won’t UKIP offer anything for whistleblowers? Or, indeed, their left-wing friends in the Conservative Party? Or the SNP? Or the Liberal Democrats?
It is a good question, and I’m not belittling it. I just don’t think you should single out any particular party as a wrong-doer in this when they’re all the same in that respect.
And you’re also right that Labour’s similarity to the Tories over this may be another reason why Labour lost in May. Thank goodness Labour isn’t similar to the Tories anymore; perhaps a pro-whistleblower policy is on its way just as soon as the air has been cleared of those pesky closet Tories masquerading as Labour MPs.
New policy in that respect? Highly unlikely. The Shadow Chancellor is a huge liability there.