TONY HETHERINGTON: Pension firm demand £95,000 back for error that was all THEIR fault

An art investment company linked to a convicted fraudster is facing a High Court winding-up petition after investigations by The Mail on Sunday and the Insolvency Service.

Yield Gallery Limited operates galleries in Soho and Blackheath in London, and has announced plans to expand in Dubai. Its creative director Jon Sullivan says: ‘With our expertise, we are able to advise, educate and help inspire new collectors and art enthusiasts seeking financial security.’

But last October, I revealed that Sullivan was previously known as Jonothan Piper. And under his old name, he was jailed for five and a half years in 2016 after pleading guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering and evading tax. Piper ran Embassy Wine UK Limited, which marketed vintage wine as an investment but cheated clients out of £300,000. Piper was also banned from acting as a company director for 11 years, but under his new name he had illegally formed two companies, an art retail business called YG Group Holdings and a financial intermediary firm, Jerry Peggy Limited.

Yield Gallery also employed as a salesman another disqualified director, Anthony Allen. He is banned from running any company until 2031, after he ran Global Neutral Limited, a scam firm which marketed investments in carbon credits.

No date has yet been fixed for the High Court to consider the winding-up petition, and the Insolvency Service declined to comment. However, lawyers for Yield Gallery said: ‘It is proposed to strenuously contest the petition’.