An asset management firm at the centre of a major fraud inquiry attracted £417million investment from 589 sports stars, it was claimed today.
Stars of the sporting world including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Lee Westwood are all said to have been advised by Kingsbridge Asset Management.
City of London Police are investigating the company over an alleged £25million fraud relating to property deals that saw clients facing ‘significant losses’.
Starts of the sporting world including Wayne Rooney (left, with his wife Coleen) and Rio Ferdinand (right) are said to have been advised by Kingsbridge Asset Management
The firm was the ‘go to’ company for multi-millionaire sportsmen and women looking to invest their cash for more than two decades.
Its clients are said to have included former England footballers Andy Cole, Danny Murphy and Martin Keown, and top golfer Darren Clarke.
The alleged victims have been left out of pocket by up to several million pounds, and are being represented for compensation by former HMRC investigator Stuart Cotton.
He told the Daily Mirror: ‘This police investigation is a validation the players are victims. They are finally getting some recognition for what they are going through.’
The company was responsible for a controversial film investment scheme that left customers facing massive tax demands after it was challenged by the authorities.
But it also offered exotic property investments at luxury apartment complexes in Florida and Spain as well as a Colombian coffee plantation.
Golfers Lee Westwood (left) and Darren Clarke (right) also allegedly invested in the company
Last month, City of London Police revealed is investigating those the firm and several linked businesses.
Officers arrested three men, all company directors aged 38, 60 and 61, at their homes in Blackburn and Nottingham on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
Detective Superintendent Perry Stokes, who is leading the inquiry, said last month: ‘These allegations relate to the activities of managers and staff, including independent financial advisors associated with the company.
‘It is about individuals, the controlling minds of the company, conspiring together to abuse their position of trust to defraud a number of clients.
‘Rather than safeguarding the financial interests of the clients they actively exposed them to significant financial losses.
‘Meanwhile the company and individuals made significant financial gains through fraudulent means.’
Specialist police investigators are now examining the company’s books between 1992 and 2010, when it went into liquidation under a new name.
They believe the fraud is worth at least £25million with more than 100 investors claiming to have lost four times that.
Mr Stokes added: ‘I do believe that the extent of this suspected fraud is wider than has currently been reported to us.
‘I would encourage anyone who was a client of the company, or any associated companies, and believes they are victims to contact us.
‘What we have seen is the devastating impact on those victims who have come forward to us. It has absolutely turned lives upside down.’
McKee and McMenamin have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying they have a 25-year track record of ‘satisfied clients’.
Ex-footballers Martin Keown (left) and Andy Cole (right) are said to have been clients
When suspicions were first reported, a spokesman for the duo said: ‘They deny in the strongest possible terms that their interests have sat anywhere other than alongside their clients.
‘Neither have ever sought to benefit financially at the expense of those valued clients.
‘They were entirely transparent and reject any notion that clients were ever misled with regards to risks associated with specific investments.’
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of the company’s investors.