06/11/2017 Inside Out East Midlands

Imagine your son or daughter has

died whilst they are abroad.

On top of that terrible

grief, you are also

desperate for answers.

Now imagine someone decides

to exploit that pain

for cash.

Meet Simon Delow, a fake

investigator who charged grieving

families thousands for his advice.

What the guy was doing,

he was appearing in demos.

He was looking as if he was

fighting for us but he

was only there for

one person, himself.

Also tonight, we are going in search

of investors milling

Also tonight, we are going

in search of investors

missing money.

Hello, Peter Shuttleworth.

It's John Cuthill

from BBC Inside Out.

Can we have a chat?

And 40 years after that

album, we meet the media

mogul behind it all.

Did it ever get a bit hairy for you?

We're at Colwick Country Park

in Nottinghamshire.

I'm Lukwesa Burak and this

is Inside Out for the East

Midlands.

When people lose a loved one

abroad under suspicious

circumstances, they often speak

of feeling helpless.

The British authorities

are reluctant to

interfere and families are left

struggling to get answers.

Well, for some, Simon

Delow appeared to be

their saviour.

A man with apparent military

credentials, he said that

he could investigate.

However, that all turned out

to be a pack of lies.

Simon Hare has the story.

The Foreign Office in

London and a protest

by families asking for

help

over the death of their

relatives abroad.

What do we want?

Justice!

Among them, Simon Delow

who, for months,

masqueraded as an expert

investigator, using

a different name.

But he is now in prison

for a £100,000 con committed

against some of the most vulnerable

people you could imagine.

He was appearing at demos.

He looked as if he

was fighting for us.

He seemed to be very convincing.

I mean, he was.

Coming away from it you wonder how

on earth you are taken in.

In terms of the personal

impact on the family,

it's just the worst

kind of fraud ever.

He was only there for

one person, himself.

I've come to Sutton in Ashfield

in Nottinghamshire.

Ray Martin and his wife, Pat,

were devastated when their daughter,

Claire, died in Italy five years ago

from stab wounds to the throat.

We've never believed from day one

that our daughter took her own life.

The Martins believe Claire

was murdered but the Italian

authorities ruled it was suicide.

Within months of Claire's

death, Simon Delow had

contacted the Martins

to say he could help.

He said with his team getting

into Italy and asking questions,

he could get to the truth.

Mentioning that he had got contacts

with Interpol, different contacts

abroad.

He seemed to have

somebody everywhere.

That's my father's medals.

My father was in the

Coldstream Guards.

Ray is from a proud

military family and Delow

also claimed to be

ex-armed services.

I believed he fought

for our country, I believed he was

injured.

He invited the Martins

down to see him.

He was very friendly

in his contact, he wasn't pushy.

He began to say what

he could give them

and began to dangle the carrot

of what he could find out what his

teams could do and then started

to introduce but for me to do that,

it'll cost £16,000.

Whatever figure it was that he said

it would cost.

In the end the

martins had a lucky escape, they

simply didn't have the cash to pay

Delow's fees.

If I'd had the money

we could've remortgaged the House,

yeah, I could have lost quite a bit.

To go and pull a con on somebody

that has lost somebody, give them

false hope that you are helping them

when there is no help at the end of

the line, how low can you go?

Delow

said he had spent 15 years with the

RAF but he had been a pilot and

risen to the rank of Group Captain.

But we checked with the Ministry of

Defence and it says he has no

military credentials whatsoever. And

his company was simply a website he

ran from his home in Gloucester. But

it was slick enough to persuade some

people to hand over their money.

We

knew that he would give a free

assessment of the case to see if he

could help and we felt that it was

worth a try. Because by then we were

three years after Andrew died.

Julie's Sun Andrew Watt was died in

2010. He was found in a country lane

near to where he was living in

France with injuries on his body.

French police initially said he had

died from natural causes. Months

later they ruled it was suicide.

The

French said it was not suspicious so

there was nothing to be done. And we

started to complain and knock on any

door for help. They have spoken to

their managers and they have advised

them not to come out and see the

letter because they are not allowed

to. As

what a load of Tosh.

The man

they knew Simon accompanied them on

many protests. This one was outside

the French Embassy in London. They

gave him £18,000 thinking they were

paying for his investigation

services through his accountant. Not

knowing that was his real middle

name and surname. And it wasn't the

only fictitious character he trained

up along the way.

He told as he had

a contract in France who is almost

his counterpart called Lewis based

in Paris who would help him with the

language and the law and everything.

We were drawn in.

Julie now lives

near Penrith in Cumbria. For her

money, all she got was an

integrating reports for the

fabricated claims about her son's

death. Beginning to suspect all

wasn't as it seemed to be, Julie and

her husband, mayors, insisted they

accompanied putter one on his next

trip to France.

He said it would be

dangerous and that if there was a

problem then we may have to do

Westgate through Germany. We were

still determined to go and we did.

And very quickly it unravelled.

Louis was meant to metres in Paris

and he didn't turn up. But he was

shouting down the phone at Louis,

swearing at him and Les and I just

looked at each other and we both

knew that we had been conned.

The

shepherds went to Durham Police for

help.

It became clear that he had

been in touch with a number of

families across the UK. And these

families that he had been contacting

were clearly very desperate. He

didn't have operatives across the

country or the old boys network you

claim to have but actually he was

going under a different name at that

point only have a previous

conviction for fraud and had been to

prison for fraud.

More than a decade

ago, he posed as an insurance broker

in Lincolnshire but he spent most of

the tens of thousands of pounds he

taken for policies on expensive

cars. Simon the low had set up --

Simon Delow had invested money...

And looking into that we quickly

found that the whole thing was a

sham really. On the Internet, his

website boasted about expensive

offices and Singapore, New York. The

reality was it was a two-bedroom

flat above a hairdresser in Boston.

As Durham Police built up their case

against Delow for fraud, he went on

the run. He left Gloucester but they

traced into Jersey in the Channel

Islands. He was found by officers at

a motorhome stopover site

appropriately known as the hideaway.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't a

very good hiding place. Delow was

arrested and then held on remand in

Durham. In August, he pleaded guilty

to charges relating to the martins,

the shepherds and a third family.

I

want him to looking me in the eye

and then to know what he has done.

Ten days ago, Simon Delow had to

face his victims again at Durham

Crown Court. As he was given a ten

year sentence for a con the judge

said could be summed up in one word,

cruel. Ray, what did you make of

that? Ten years.

Not enough but

happy. At least he not out there

trying to anybody else.

I think the

judge summed it up saying cruel.

What all these people had been

through already and then to do that

to them, it's just really sickening.

Well the families now have justice

against Simon Delow but they say

they will continue to fight for

justice for their loved ones who

died abroad. Next, they have been

left thousands of pounds out of

pocket with no explanation as to

what has happened to their money.

Investors in a property scheme have

been telling us they want some

serious answers. So, as their top

tip turned out to be a non-runner?

John Cotterill has been

investigating. A flutter on the

horses can be tempting. Especially

when that sure bet is looking you

right in the eye. And like horse

racing, financial investments also

need a bit of luck if they are to

pay out. Come on! But if that

investment tip. The first hurdle,

you might find have backed the wrong

horse. That is exactly what happened

to Stephen Perry from Ringwood.

Stephen, hi. Stephen was investing

for his future and the current low

interest rates being offered by

banks weren't very tempting.

I am

virtually retired now and I had some

I wanted to put away an some income

from. I have two kids from school,

begging to be going to university

before I know it and they are

expensive!

Eager to start investing,

Stephen found a broker online. They

claimed that they did all the due

diligence, they only offered

reliable products.

So I trusted

them.

The broker introduced Stephen

to Forbes capital. It was offering a

secured two-year investment in a

social housing scheme based in

Chicago. Forbes capital was

promising high returns. So Stephen

invested £70,000.

They were

purchasing property, so they were

assets against which if things went

wrong at least I would get some, if

not all of the money back.

For Steve

and it sounded like the perfect

investment and he wasn't the only

one who thought so. Records we have

seen show investors have paid

£440,000 to Forbes Capital. This man

and his fiancee invested £5,000 to

help pay for their wedding. To date,

they have not received a penny.

Others invested lump sums from their

pensions. 64-year-old man from

Sutton in Ashfield in

Nottinghamshire. He was an NHS nurse

for over 40 years and has recently

retired. He dipped into his pension

pot to invest with Forbes Capital.

I

decided to make some investment. I

invested £40,000 and that investment

was for two years.

Forbes Capital

promised to return all of his

investment at the end and pay in

£400 every month.

I even had a

payment schedule from the managing

director to tell me how much I was

good to get. At the time, I thought

it was a good return. That is the

main reason I invested. And it was a

regular income, a monthly income

because since I have retired I am

only getting less money every month.

So to make it up, that is the main

reason I invested in Forbes Capital.

He only received for interest

payments and then they dried up. He

contacted Forbes Capital to ask

where his money was but they didn't

return his calls respond to his

e-mails. After a lifetime of helping

others, he hoped this investment

would help him and his family

financially.

I am extremely worried

about the capital of £40,000 because

I worked hard for that. I am worried

about the returns as well because I

was told I was going to get that and

as I said, when I'm not getting it

I'm really, Brady frustrated about

that. Because I did trust that

company.

So who is behind the

company? The main shareholder of

Forbes Capital is this man, Peter

Shuttleworth. He previously was a

director for colonial capital which

offered an almost identical

investment opportunity. That firm

went under, owing millions. Forbes

Capital is unregulated and for

investors, that can mean risky

business. If you are dealing with an

unregulated investment scheme, if

you are dealing with an unregulated

broker, this is no different to

handing your life savings over to a

man in the pub and hoping that it

will give it to you -- give it back

to you again one day. With a lot of

experience in financial services, he

picks specialises in investment. You

have looked at the detail of the

Forbes Capital offer.

The first one

that worried me is multiple layers

of uncertainty around the in

overseas investment. So lots of

uncertainty but the fact that it is

an unregulated investment scheme. So

the UK regulator has no control over

it. It also means if anything goes

wrong, you have no comeback.

And

investment broker based in Spain

acted as a middleman between

investors and Forbes Capital. But

even when investors started

reporting that they haven't received

their monthly payments from Forbes

Capital, Templer invest continues to

sign people up to the scheme.

Templer invest is currently being

investigated by the Financial

Conduct Authority. It says it too

was this led by Forbes Capital and

that it has now had to cease

trading. But that is of little

comfort to Stephen when the company

he invested in isn't paying out what

they promised. Since invested the

money in Forbes Capital, have you

had any contact from?

No. The only

contact I had was the bond the

payment schedule and a cover letter

in the post.

How you feel? £70,000

is a huge amount of money.

Well,

obviously I was upset.

Are you kind

of resigned to the fact warranty

that money again?

Virtually, I think

I've had to sort of admit that the

probability of possibility,

otherwise I wouldn't sleep at night

I just end all my days worrying

about it.

After weeks of searching,

we finally found Mr Shuttleworth

here at this caravan park in Essex.

Time to get some answers. Hello,

Peter Shuttleworth. It's John

Cuthill from the BBC inside out, can

we have a chat?

No.

We have come to

ask where the investors money is.

Can you get up before I phoned the

police? Thank you. IU death?

Leave

the camera. You have taken tens of

thousands of pounds. Peter

Shuttleworth, you owed at least an

explanation, don't you? £70,000 from

Mr Perry, not a penny paid back. You

can't even be bothered to talk to

them, why not? Anything at all, Mr

Shuttleworth? You're quite a hard

man to track down. And you are a

very hard man to talk to.

Well, clearly Peter Shuttleworth

doesn't want to talk to is today.

Tens of thousands of pounds of

investors's money. Investors are

last in what has happened to lose

money, we have asked in what is

happening to their money and he has

got nothing to say. That was John

Cuthill reporting there. And we got

an update for you because since our

visit, Mr Shuttleworth has been in

touch. E-mail this to say that all

the investors will be receiving a

full refund by the end of November.

So we will be letting you know if

that does indeed happen. Finally

tonight, this month marks the 40th

anniversary of one of the most

colourful court cases ever heard in

the East Midlands. A controversy

that cemented the rabble rousing

credentials of one of Britain's's

best-known businessman. How it's all

hinged on one word on one album

cover by the punk rockers the sex

pistols. Well our reporter has the

story and I'm afraid, inevitably, it

does use language that some of you

may find offensive. Cast your mind

back, if you can, to November of

1977. It's still the Silver Jubilee,

God Save The Queen. Nigel Clough is

already causing problems that the

rest of division one. And Brian

Clough. And that is at odds over

bringing anarchy to the East

Midlands. It sells holidays in the

sun today but 40 years ago, this was

a virgin record shop. And the full

roar over an LP that went on display

in the window it would help launch a

global brand.

We took a little risk

that you can help propel virgin into

the company it is today. I suspect

we wouldn't have a spaceship company

today!

Now, I was only nine years

old in 1977 but I can remember the

impact of punk. Punk was a

revelation, it was

antiestablishment, it was...

Everyone was... To use the parlance

of the day, it was skill.

The Crown jewels of punk, the sex

pistols, had already been in trouble

for being dead rude and this live TV

appearance became infamous. Cover

your ears. Punk rock, the new crazy

tummy.

A new rude word. Next

question.

No, what was a rude word.

Come on got another five seconds.

This and dirty leader. What a bloody

ratbag. The next day's papers went

nuts. Speaking of the band's filth

and the resulting fury at that TV

appearance. So when they released

their debut album, it wasn't

surprising that it contained a

naughty word. That word, which I'm

not using because I never swear,

isn't something you would associate

with Nottingham, unless you're

from... But it caused a lot of

trouble here. Now then, 40 years ago

when this place was a megastore, the

manager was a bloke called Chris

Seal and like every other branch of

the country, he was instructed to

fill these windows with posters

promoting the album. The police

weren't too happy about this. Four

times came over and demanded that he

take them down. Four times he told

them to... Well, he refused. So, in

late November 's 1977, he ended up

here in court. Charged with

exhibiting in decent printed

material. A law that went all the

way back to Victorian times. Instead

of backing down, virgin decided to

fight back.

When I put that post and

render it never occurred to me that

anything was wrong with it at all.

Chris lives abroad now suffered to

get hold of his gaffer, you might

have heard of him.

How did you fancy

your chances before the court case?

Did it ever get a bit hairy for you?

The worst is weird to put a sticker

over the window and it would've

actually sold even more albums so,

you know, it was unlikely that we

were going to be sent to prison for

it. It was the sex pistols and

ourselves have been sent to prison

for a week or something but that

would actually meant I would have

sold even more albums, so the

notoriety of sex pistols...

So when

you ran the poster campaign in the

shop windows, you kind of knew what

you are doing. Yes, we will pull in

the tail of the establishment of

Ethelbert Sex Pistols were having

fun, virgin was having fun. Pelle it

was actually the fact that we were

brave enough to take on the Sex

Pistols and turned to my three into

the most successful record label in

the world, sometimes you have to

take a risk and we took a little

risk that helped propel Virgin into

the company it is today. Solicit

album as a little place in your

heart?

Of course. I suspect we

wouldn't have a spaceship!

God Save

The Queen. The fascist regime.

But

back in 1977, the establishment was

gagging to kick punk where it hurt.

And other Virgin store managers were

facing charges too.

Exactly quite

scary at the time. I remember

Richard offered me a load of money

for everyday I was in prison and

although he did it with humour, like

a word, and it was a nice gesture

and a kind of funny one, it didn't

make me feel better. Chris's case

came to court before ours. We watch

it with some trepidation because it

has Chris been found guilty, then we

presumably would have automatically

been found guilty as well.

All the

finals in a. Trevor Dann is one of

the most influential radio producers

in the UK. But 40 years ago, he was

working at radio Nottingham and he

got an exclusive interview with

Johnny rotten the night before the

verdict.

And that is the signature.

The only thing I can member is him

having a go at me for having long

hair. Which you kind of work. And he

had what we would now probably call

attitude. He is a fully paid-up

member of the awkward squad.

Do

think he was worried about losing

the case?

There were silly no case

of oh, I'm panicking because I might

be going to prison. I think you

would probably be disappointed that

they got off because he would like

to have been a cult hero.

So how did

Virgin attempt to carry out one of

the great rock and roll swindle 's

and prove the case was cobblers?

They came here, to the English

department at the University of

Nottingham.

What happened was the

word testicle came in from batting

and it displaced bullocks. So

bullocks became a low word.

So

dropped? Sky as you might say it, it

dropped. It came to mean rubbish.

And the Professor was called to

court and told magistrates that it

was also slang for a priest. He

should have known because the author

was one.

Here you have someone

speaking with authority to say that

the word was a perfectly respectable

word with an interesting history.

The case collapsed.

Did you ever

hear use that word? Sky I'm afraid I

did. Goodlad. So the court case was

over, the Sex Pistols were over. The

record went back on sale on sold

hundreds of thousands of copies and

it became the most successful I'll

peak in history. And I can't wait to

get home to play. Oh, what?

Though... That's quite enough of

that! And I'm afraid it's enough of

this series of inside out, too. Will

be back in January but in the

meantime if you have a story that

you think we should be

investigating, why not drop me a

line? My e-mail address is: until

then, from all others on the table,

goodbye. -- from all of us on the

team.