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INTRODUCTION
This Blog is dedicated to making public some of the business activities and methods of Liam Collins, David Bone Jr and their associates. In the spring of 2010, the present authors invested in Collins & Bone (C&B), who were offering an enticing 8-10% interest on the basis of buying houses for cash, renovating them and letting them out to students. We were assured that our money was secured against houses that they owned, including their own homes and the properties held by their associated company, Castle & Gatehouse (C&G). We have emails and brochures that confirm these details, as do others who invested on this same basis at around the same time. The idea worked for us for over a year, then in November 2011 they told us they were insolvent. They refused our every request for clear accounts, which led us to suspect wrongdoing. We began an investigation and then started this Blog. We found our suspicions confirmed: other investors had lost sometimes quite large amounts to C&B and its predecessor CBS, and all requests for repayment were adamantly refused. These people use and have used so many names that we found it necessary to compress them into CoBo (for Collins & Bone) and Coboco (for the whole bunch of them – there are quite a few!) Note that there is an index in the margin at the right hand side.

Saturday 28 July 2012

LIAM COLLINS—OLYMPIC FRAUDSTER?

We have been informed by the British Bobsleigh Team Coach that Liam Collins is no longer on the team. We don't know if he is still collecting money from the public on the basis of being a member of the Olympic Bobsleigh Team, but if he is, he certainly shouldn't be, because anything the public gives him by way of cash only goes into his own pocket. He has always been disinterested in accounting for whatever income he gets and also how much money he has fraudulently taken from bona fide investors. The reckoning will come to him and he must be wondering—between shows—when that will be or how long he can keep running away from it.

Monday 23 July 2012

ANOTHER POSTPONEMENT BY DAVID BONE JR

David Bone Jr has managed to postpone his interview with the Public Examiner until the 7th August. This is the story of CoBo's life: their strategy is to wear down their opposite numbers—their creditors and those representing the law of the land—by endless procrastination and argument. Their behaviour simply asks to be called to account and we trust that the authorities are now hot on their trail. We know also that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are very keen to find out about years of unpaid taxes. 

Monday 16 July 2012

COBO, LPA RECEIVERS AND MORTGAGE DEBT

LPA Receivers have been appointed for twenty-three of CoBo’s houses. They are Zolfo Cooper (http://www.europe.zolfocooper.com/) and their agents, Winterhill Largo. The receivers have not yet decided on a strategy for the houses, but all tenancy agreements will be honoured.

But what are LPA Receivers?  Here’s the clearest definition we’ve found:

‘Law of Property Act (LPA) Receivers act for banks and private lenders who have secured their loans by a Legal Charge (mortgage) on a property. Under the terms of the Legal Charge the lender can appoint a Receiver to deal with a property when the terms of the mortgage are not being met – usually when repayments and interest are not being paid. LPA Receivers are experts who can manage the property, deal directly with occupants, outstanding problems, insurance and repairs. To repay the debt, Receivers collect in money from rents or sell the property.’

It is important to note this is not the first time LPA Receivers have taken control of CoBo’s properties. It has happened at least twice before—in July 2008 for two months and from May 2009 to April 2010. Which means that their mortgages were so far in arrears at those times that MX took drastic action. Also, those of us who invested during these periods were in all likelihood giving them money to pay off their mortgage arrears so that they could receive rental income from the houses again.

Just how financially incompetent, irresponsible and plain stupid does one have to be to receive the full market rental from a property and not bother to pay the mortgage? And how cynically deceitful it is then to persuade others to hand over their money on the basis that you are running a successful property company! CoBo and associates have made others pay dearly for their delusional business activities.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

DAVID BONE JR - ANOTHER POSTPONEMENT!

We hear from the Public Examiner that David Bone Jr has postponed his interview once again, on account of work commitment, i.e., 'Faces of Disco' public performances. If he dodges the interview a third time, he will be legally required to attend—or face arrest.

Liam Collins did keep his appointment on 3rd July, but produced no proper accounts. His excuse was that CoBo's former accountant had not released them. However, we understand that the accounts have now been passed to the Public Examiner and to the Partners.

One noteworthy point is that Mark Black assumed responsibility for CoBo's accounts at the end of 2010. Has he provided the Public Examiner with the missing figures for 2011? If not, perhaps he will be good enough to assist the enquiry by doing so promptly?

It will be interesting to see just how long CoBo can get away with their dirty tricks by using the old postponement card. They can be sure of our unswerving attention until the whole swindle is satisfactorily resolved.


Saturday 7 July 2012

THE HIDDEN FACES OF COBO

Many of the People of Britain must by now have been lucky enough to get a sight of that desperate duo who call themselves Faces of Disco. These two have been strutting their stuff in the streets, especially in shopping centres, where unwitting shoppers are apparently only too happy to throw money at them. Those show-stopped shoppers: how could they guess that the apparently clean-cut characters camping it up behind those masks are actually crooks? That they have swindled more than one hundred people out of their life savings, pensions and retirement money, blandly telling them that their money has been spent and offering no explanation? We think the public at large needs to know.

These shameless show-offs* were bankrupted in May of this year; how can they now trouser the money of the unwitting public without accounting for it? Are those shoppers aware that these rascals owe people who trusted them some £4 million? (Yes, that’s four million pounds).

It’s clear that nowhere near enough people are informed about the background of these two, riddled as it is with acts of deceit and theft. The evidence is piling up. We would ask all readers of this Blog to help spread this knowledge wide and far and to call to account the rotten characters behind the masks.

* We refer here specifically to Liam Collins and David Bone Jr.  (Richard Edmonds should dissociate himself from these two on account of their dishonest dealings).