A whiskey company that defrauded victims of tens of thousands of pounds by pressuring them to invest in casks of the drink they never actually owned has closed down.
Cask Spirits Global Limited was dissolved in the High Court London Tuesday, following a lengthy investigation after it emerged that a convicted fraudster was running the company in all but name.
Craig Brooks, who was jailed with his brother in 2019 for his part in a £6.2 million fraud, was banned from being a company director but was exposed as the driving force behind several companies offering fantastic returns to investors.
Cask Spirits Global Limited was one such iteration, costing tens of thousands of pounds from victims who thought they were buying casks of whiskey with the promise of big profits.
But the majority of the barrels they sold did not exist, were too expensive or were sold to multiple people.
Brooks, who operated under pseudonyms including Craig Arch to avoid detection, targeted ordinary people and referred to his company online as Cask Whiskey Ltd – with victims actually paying Cask Spirits Global Limited.
According to the Insolvency Service, Cask Spirits Global Limited took at least £97,249 from the victims, but the actual figure is believed to be higher.
The company, ostensibly run by Brooks’ father-in-law Paul Hutchins, the only listed director at Companies House, failed to provide investigators with 27 of 29 accounting documents they requested.
During an investigation it was revealed that convicted fraudster Craig Brooks and his sister-in-law Sydnie were behind the company
Alison and Ian Cocks, from Montrose, Angus, invested £103,000 in casks with the company Cask Whiskey Ltd, which did not exist on Companies House
Of the seventeen clients identified by the Insolvency Service, only four had received valid ownership documentation relating to the barrels they believed they owned.
Some received certificates for barrels that did not exist, or the documents were in the company’s name instead of their own.
Other certificates referred to warehouses unrelated to Brooks’ company, or included false warehouse locations as to the location of the referenced barrels.
Cask Spirits Global Limited operated under a different name on its website, despite no such company existing. Investigators found no proof of residence at the listed addresses and operated multiple undisclosed bank accounts.
The company also failed to file its accounts consistently and did not create a reliable way for customers to complain or request a refund.
It targeted victims using high-pressure sales techniques, social media advertisements and cold calling.
Brooks, who was jailed for a year for his previous £6.2 million scam in which he convinced a total of 350 victims to invest in carbon credits and earth metals, teamed up with his sister-in-law Sydnie for his latest scheme.
Last year, a BBC investigation exposed that Brooks actually ran the whiskey firm, prompting police to investigate three separate companies linked to the scam.
The company was run by a man calling himself Craig Arch – pictured during undercover films – who is actually Craig Brooks, who was jailed in 2019 for his role in a £6.2 million fraud.
No charges have yet been filed in the case, known as Operation Gamboge.
The scam is based on legitimate investment schemes where people buy a barrel of whiskey when it is first produced, and then hope it will increase in value as it ages in the barrel.
The sector has no official regulations in Britain, making it a prime target for fraudsters.
Among the victims Brooks targeted was Alison Cocks from Montrose, who invested a total of £103,000 in four barrels, not all of which existed.
She previously told the BBC how she was reassured by an online portfolio that appeared to show her investment growing, but problems arose when she decided to sell.
‘Suddenly they didn’t want to talk to me anymore. They avoided my calls. “I was really panicking,” she said.
She later found out that the most expensive barrel she had purchased did not exist and that another had also been purchased by someone else.
Mark George, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Our investigation raised serious concerns about the way Cask Spirits Global Limited was run and the damage caused to customers who invested in good faith.
‘People have handed over thousands of pounds for whiskey barrels they never legally owned.
‘Despite claiming to have ceased trading, the company appeared to still be active and posed an ongoing risk to the public. We will not hesitate to act if a company cannot be trusted with people’s money.”
City of London Police previously raided the premises of Cask Whiskey and launched a public appeal for all customers to get in touch.
