Greenlife Wellness Limited and Naturecare Wellness Limited made false and misleading claims in persuading elderly and vulnerable customers to purchase grossly overpriced health supplements. The companies, both based in London, have now been shut down following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

The two companies purchased data lists containing details of UK-based individuals over the age of 65 with health concerns over arthritis and joint pain. They then used third party call centres in India, some operated by the same common directors of the two companies, to make unsolicited calls to the individuals to try to sell them a range of health supplements.

The investigation found the companies’ customers were subjected to lengthy telesales calls during which the callers gave the impression they were calling on behalf of UK medical bodies and that they were healthcare professionals promoting an official healthcare campaign.

Some customers were found to have paid several hundreds of pounds a month in separate transactions spread over several years. In one case, an 81-year old customer had paid over £19,000 for supplements over a 4 year period.

Customers were called repeatedly, some despite being registered on the Telephone Preference Service or being ex-directory, and falsely told that their details had been obtained from their GP or medical centre.

Customers were also pressurised into purchasing supplements despite being concerned that they those supplements may adversely affect medication they were already being prescribed.

Other customers felt pressured into purchasing more supplements than they wanted as sales agents were persistent and demanding.

Between January 2013 and August 2017 the companies generated a combined turnover of around £2,000,000 from the sale of health supplements.

Commenting on the case, Irshard Mohammed, Senior Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

The sales methods used by the companies were manipulative, misleading and wholly unfair.

These winding-up proceedings show that the Insolvency Service will use the full weight of its powers to take action against companies that operate in such an unscrupulous way.

Sales representatives acting on behalf of the companies:

• made claims about the health benefits and qualities of the supplements which have no medical basis
• implied that they had medical experience when they had none
• implied that they were calling on behalf of genuine medical bodies when they were not
• claimed to be conducting an official healthcare campaign, when that was not found to be the case

The petitions to wind-up both Greenlife Wellness Limited and Naturecare Wellness Limited were presented under s124A Insolvency Act 1986 on 20 July 2017. The companies were wound up on 18 October 2017 and the Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator. ## Notes to Editors

Greenlife Wellness Limited – company registration number 08281856 – was incorporated on 6 November 2012. The company’s registered office is at New Bridge Street House, 30-34 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6BJ. This address situated the company accountant’s office.

Naturecare Wellness Limited – company registration number 09251111 – was incorporated on 6 October 2014 under the name Goldstar Wellness Limited before changing its name on 8 October 2014 to Naturecare Wellness Limited. The company’s registered office is at New Bridge Street House, 30-34 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6BJ. This address situated the company accountant’s office.

The winding-up orders were made by Mr Registrar Jones on 18 October 2017, with Lucy Wilson-Barnes appearing for the Secretary of State and no one on behalf of the companies.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Further information about live company investigations is available here

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies. The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

By virtue of the appointment of the Official Receiver all public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2nd Floor, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Email: piu.south@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Dream It Believe It Achieve It, a charity working to advance the physical education of children and young people and to relieve disability. The investigation was opened on 5 January 2017.

The Commission has been engaging with the charity since March 2014, after concerns were raised about its fundraising activities. The inquiry follows on from this engagement and will examine:

• the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees, including its financial controls
• the charity’s relationship with connected companies and whether these relationships are in the best interests of the charity
• transactions between the charity and companies connected to the trustees and former trustees, and whether any unauthorised benefits have been received

The Commission stresses that opening an inquiry is not in itself a finding of wrong doing. The purpose of an inquiry is to examine issues in detail and investigate and establish the facts so that the regulator can ascertain whether there has been misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity; establish the extent of the risk to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work; decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns, if necessary using its protective and remedial powers to do so.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on its website.

The charity’s registered number is 1153116. Its details can be viewed on the Commission’s check charity tool.

Ends

PR 70/17

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
4. The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.

The Transaction Data shows HM Land Registry completed 1,586,987 applications from its customers in September. This included 1,562,821 applications by account holders, of which:

The International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for the international community to act now and not forget the millions of people displaced by increasing levels of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will call on Welsh SMEs to capitalise on new UK Government backed finance to help gain access to global growth markets when he attends the Fast Growth 50 awards this evening (20 October 2017).

Mr Cairns will deliver a keynote speech at the 19th Fast Growth 50 gala dinner in Cardiff, where the best of Welsh entrepreneurship and the fastest growing businesses in Wales will be showcased.

The Secretary of State will highlight a new £2million UK Export Finance (UKEF) partnership with five High Street banks designed to enable SMEs in Wales to access support directly from their bank in seconds, without the need to apply separately.

The fund will help businesses like those on the Fast Growth 50 list, become part of major export contracts around the world.

Since its inception in 1999, the 551 companies that have featured on the Fast Growth 50 lists have so far created over 34,000 jobs and generated an estimated £18 billion for the Welsh economy.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

The Fast Growth 50 ceremony is a key date in the Welsh business calendar. It presents a welcome opportunity to reflect over the year that has passed, and to celebrate the many successes that businesses have worked tirelessly to create.

So many of the companies that have decorated the FG50 rosters over the years are now delivering services and exporting their products right around the globe.

The UK Government wants to do more to ensure Welsh businesses take advantage of every opportunity available to them to grow and expand into new markets.

The support provided by UK Export Finance is a valuable resource for businesses throughout the whole of the UK, Wales included. Unleashing the potential of companies such as those we will celebrate this evening will be key to ensuring the Welsh economy continues to prosper.

Wales is already an exporting nation. There are currently more than 3,800 businesses in Wales that export, with a combined value of £13billion in the first quarter of 2017. Wales is also an attractive place for inward investment, with latest figures showing that 85 foreign direct investment projects were secured in Wales, creating 2,581 new jobs and safeguarding almost 9,000 more.

The Secretary of State for Wales has recently written to over 26,000 Welsh businesses identified as potential exporters including a copy to the Wales Export Guide. The Wales specific guide sets out the full range of support available to Welsh businesses from the UK Government and contains inspiring stories of companies based in Wales that are successfully exporting. You can read the guide online here.

Notes to editors

• For further information on the Fast Growth 50 awards, visit their website

• Read more about the UK Export Finance fund here