TONY HETHERINGTON investigates Mrs. Banksy Dot and the riddle of the fake art stories

Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday's top researcher, taking on readers' corners, uncovering the truth that lies behind closed doors and delivering victories for those left out of their own pockets. Below you can read how you can contact him.

Mrs FM writes: I read your article about the dodgy art seller Marks Art and wanted to say, “Hallelujah, finally someone gets it!”

My father, 88 years old, has been dealing with them since 2018.

My father found himself in the terrible position of trying to recoup his original investment by throwing good money after bad.

Tony Hetherington replies: Your dad gave away tens of thousands of pounds for works of art, after high-pressure phone calls from salespeople who convinced him he would make a profit. But when he tried to convert the art back into money, he was told he had to spend more money first to make his collection more attractive to a buyer.

A number of purchases have been made using credit cards, and I am now in contact with two of the card issuers to make a refund claim, either under Section 75, the consumer law which makes them jointly responsible with the retailer, or under chargeback rules.

However, two works that your father bought for a total of more than € 15,000 stood out enormously. They allegedly came from a woman who called herself 'Mrs Banksy Dot'. Her work is in the same style as Banksy's street art that has appeared on buildings for years, and the prospects for investors were underlined by reports published on the websites of BBC Wales and The Telegraph. Those reports were given to your father to convince him to buy. But they are fakes. And also very poorly written forgeries.

The 'BBC Report' describes the discovery of what is said to be a work by Ms Banksy Dot: 'It appeared on the side of a private home in an area of ​​Southampton, England, known for its lively nightlife and drinking culture.' The writer adds that he is using his contacts in the art world to purchase one of her works “while she stays under the radar,” explaining that “her next collection is sure to become a collector's item in only the most discerning collections .'

What a load of nonsense! Why would the BBC need to tell anyone that Southampton is in England? In fact, these words were written over a decade ago by a foreign commentator describing a real Banksy. The story from 'The Telegraph' is just as bad, and the writing is even worse: 'Mrs Banksy Dot burst onto the art scene with a street art spree and was hailed as Mrs Banksy Dot at the very young age of twenty-five. ' The report then quotes from the 'BBC story' – one forgery quoting another.

A BBC spokesperson told me: 'I can confirm this story did not come from BBC Wales News.' And The Telegraph made it clear that the report appearing under his name is also fake. I asked Mark Smith for comment on his company's use of falsified news articles to convince your father to invest. He replied, “The items you mentioned were sent to us by the artist they are also related to (sic).” But this is like saying that if a car is advertised as getting 80 miles per gallon instead of 30, that's fine, as long as an anonymous person somewhere in the world says it's 80, not 30.

I told Mark Smith that your father bought the art because of the falsified stories. The sales were fraudulent, even though Smith did not know the stories were fake. He has now said to me: 'I understand your position and fully support it.' Your father has repaid £15,520.

WE ARE KEEPING AN WATCH FOR YOU

Payback: Paul Seakens

A crook exposed by The Mail on Sunday as the central figure in a multi-million pound fraud has been forced to pay back more than £1 million to more than 200 victims of his investment scam.

Paul Seakens, 62, found himself at the center of a spider web of more than 70 scammers marketing carbon credits. Investors received certificates that were reportedly in high demand by the industry because they allowed them to release a certain amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

But the carbon credits investors received were of a different type, used voluntarily by people who wanted to pay for programs such as planting trees to offset emissions from their own cars and flights.

There was no way to convert those funds back into cash.

I warned a decade ago that carbon credits were being marketed on seriously false claims, including that then-Chancellor George Osborne had said investors would make a profit within months.

And I named Seakens as the key figure in the scam, even though he was authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which also gave the green light to his company Carbon Neutral Investments.

A police investigation began later in 2013 and in 2016 the government's Insolvency Service obtained a High Court order to close Seakens' company and 18 other linked companies. Six of the company directors identified by the Insolvency Service have been approved by the FCA to work in the financial sector.

In 2021, Seakens was convicted of fraud. The MoS's 2013 report was part of the prosecution's evidence at his trial. The victims lost an estimated £36 million, while Seakens himself reportedly sent more than £3 million abroad. Nearly a year after his trial – and nine years after the alarm was raised in 2013 – the FCA banned Seakens from the financial world, ruling that he 'lacks the necessary honesty'.

Seakens is now serving 13 years in prison. After his trial, the Crown Prosecution Service took him back to court, where he was told that if he did not pay back the £1,037,948 recovered by investigators, he would serve an additional seven years.

CPS officials have now revealed he coughed up the money, which was distributed to 222 of his victims. Prosecutor Portia Ragnauth said: 'He will continue to be monitored in case any new assets can be identified that would allow us to apply to the court to increase the value of his confiscation order.'

If you believe you have been a victim of financial misconduct, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, personal answers cannot be given. Only send copies of original documents. Unfortunately, these cannot be returned.