These scammers have been shut down, after promising crazy returns from investing in Brazilian land.
With the world's biggest two sporting events heading for Brazil, expect a deluge of media coverage of Latin America's biggest country. There will be wall to wall analysis of what to see, where to go, the foods to eat – and the dangers that lurk in some parts.
But one Brazilian peril has already been shut down, although not before it took tens of thousands each from a number of UK investors.
Late last year, I received one of those emails offering me the chance to make money from “fantastic prospects in Brazil”. Curious, I responded and received a link to a very professional website, followed by a glossy brochure in the post.
It turned out to be an investment in Brazilian land, which it said would grow in value substantially thanks to the World Cup and the Olympics. And what fantastic increases, as the subsequent phone call explained. The incredibly enthusiastic salesperson told me that an investment of just £9,990 (he probably thought £10,000 might scare me) would produce a return of £12,870 after 12 months and £22,275 after 18 months.
Beats savings accounts hands down.
Investment growth is inevitable!
It was not clear whether this meant my original stake would be worth those amounts or whether they were in addition to my investment.
Either way, they were implausibly ambitious and impossibly accurate, even if the brochure claimed “property in Brazil currently sits on the brink of a boom period while investment growth is inevitable, especially in locations by the sea and in north-east Brazil”.
It continued: “Brazil's tourism success is creating a huge demand for accommodations (sic) and shrewd property investors are acting early.” Obviously not as early as those selling the property who are obviously selfless Samaritans, letting others into the big profits. And in case you are not convinced, it adds “it is little wonder that Brazil is also increasingly popular as an expatriate retirement haven”.
Shutting them down
Now the firm behind this nonsense – Pantheon Realty – has been placed into provisional liquidation following a petition from the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills to wind it up in the public interest. Four related companies were also placed into provisional liquidation.
But that series of shut-downs will not stop others from using the template – copying the brochure and the website – in an attempt to fool others into parting with substantial sums for either non-existent or low value land in Brazil. Or indeed anywhere else in the world where they can make a story plausible enough to fool some investors, from Mongolia to Mali via Mexico and the Maldives.
Pantheon used high pressure selling techniques. Its boiler-room-trained staff phoned up regularly – to “check” potential victims had received the material, to ascertain how well off they were, to discourage them from other investments, and even to ask how they intended to spend the huge gains they were promised.
I was phoned three times in a fortnight, but others were called several times a day.
They described themselves as “international property professionals” offering “an outstanding service package, thorough meticulous research and due diligence” plus “ethical and fair working practices”. But taking no for an answer obviously did not not fit its “high quality control standards”.
Pantheon promised me that buying near Fortaleza, a city of 2.3 million people in north-east Brazil, was a guaranteed win, as its beaches make it the "number one holiday destination in a country with 4,500 miles of coastline".
I have no idea about Fortaleza but the “near” beaches are nearly 100 miles away at Buriti Bay. The Pantheon website has pictures of stunning properties at Buriti, but the small print shows that these are just an artist's impression.
Had they even been to Brazil?
The Pantheon companies – to be the subject of a full hearing in mid-October – boasted a "dedicated team with over 50 years combined experience in commercial and residential property in the United Kingdom, Europe and Brazil".
The directors would have found this difficult without hiring substantial help. Director Ismael Rajani, who lives in west London, is now 31, born in August 1982. He comes from Kabul, Afghanistan. A second director, Younos Hashimi, now resigned, was appointed to the board aged 18 – he was born in 1994. Another former director was also just out of his teens. Did any ever go to Brazil?
Clearly, any firm that talks about "a shortage in this valuable asset [land] in the future" is unaware of just how vast Brazil is.
None of this will stop other merchants trying to cash in on Brazil. You would be nuts to go for it.