Saradha-like con on author

- Kureishi loses life savings in suspected fraud scheme

AMIT ROY

Hanif Kureishi

London, May 4: An unsuspecting depositor invests in a property deal for a promised 15 per cent return in 120 days, believing he is dealing with a firm of strong credentials, and ends up losing his life's savings.

If that has been the story of thousands in rural Bengal who put their money in Saradha's hands, it appears to have also happened to a famous author in London.

Hanif Kureishi, the best-selling author of My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha of Suburbia, has lost £120,000 (about Rs 1 crore), virtually his life's savings, in a suspected fraud.

It seems the author, much admired for his streetwise novels, was duped by his own accountant.

Kureishi claims he was persuaded to invest in a property deal by his then accountant, Adam Woricker, who was a partner in the respected chartered accountants firm, Fisher Phillips.

The writer thought he was following their advice, but Fisher Phillips said Woricker was acting alone and had sacked him in July last year.

Kureishi confessed he knows little about complex financial affairs but had intended using his savings to cover the "ups and downs" of being a writer.

His plight has been reported widely by The Guardian and other papers.

Last March the accountant was reportedly arrested by Essex police and bailed until May 28. No charges have been brought.

Woricker is thought to have raised similar sums from several other "clients and friends", according to The Guardian, which has seen a letter he sent to Kureishi using the company email recommending the investment opportunity.

"I'd asked my agent if they could recommend someone to do my accounts," said Kureishi. "Fisher Phillips sent over a partner and he was very helpful and charming. When he proposed this investment to me, he said many other clients and other writers are making this investment… I said, 'Great!' He worked for a very respectable firm that had been in business for 60 years, one that came highly recommended by my agent."

The letter recommending the investment, sent to Kureishi by Woricker using the company email address, promised a return of 15 per cent on the money, which had to be invested for 120 days.

Outlining the investment opportunity, it said: "One of my clients is completing on a property deal which involves them obtaining around £20m loan facility that they will use to purchase a series of properties. They paid their deposit of around £400,000 and have now been asked for proof of funds for around another £200,000-£250,000 — I have arranged a lot of this already through clients and friends and I have put in £20,000 myself."

Kureishi, who has been awarded a CBE by the Queen, said he made an initial investment of £50,000. He received the first promised interest, paid into his current account, a sum of £7,500. This encouraged him to invest a second tranche, a further £70,000, in May last year.

"The next thing I know is that I get a call from Fisher Phillips telling me they have sacked him and that I should talk to my lawyers," he said.

Kureishi went on: "I've been told there's little prospect of me getting my money back. Fisher Phillips has denied all knowledge, refused to apologise to me, refused to make recompense and until this week have refused to meet with me in any way. They said '(it was) nothing to do with us'."

Fisher Phillips, which is thought to have a number of big-name media clients, has strenuously denied its involvement and said its then partner, Woricker, had acted entirely alone.

Robert Ward, partner at Fisher Phillips, claimed that Woricker had offered the investment "in a personal capacity and the firm had nothing to do with it".

He added: "Fisher Phillips is not authorised to advise clients on this type of investment and we simply don't do it. We write to our clients telling them this. All the money that Woricker received went to his own account, and not the company's. Woricker was sacked at the beginning of last July as soon as we became aware of what was happening."

Kureishi is now bringing a claim, alongside two other victims, against Fisher Phillips.

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