A man forced to retire early from work due to ill health, emotionally details how he lost his life savings, in new BBC Panorama documentary, The Billion-Pound Savings Scandal, which airs on Tuesday, August 16. Paul Stevens, who now lives with an auto-immune disease called myasthenia gravis, talks about how he invested a large sum of money into Blackmore Bond plc, who reportedly used suspect tactics to issue high-risk 'mini-bonds' to ordinary people rather than experienced investors. The new film explores the impact that the company had on investors and the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) handling of the situation.
Paul and his wife, Jane, were amongst 2000 other investors who were told that their money would be invested as part of the scheme. Prior to investing his ill health-pension and life savings, Paul states that he "did [his] due diligence" when it came to researching the company and describes how he was ensured that the bond was "guaranteed by insurance".
The Blackmore Bond was set up to invest money into UK property developments and the proceeds would supposedly pay back the investors. The company was attractive to people as it offered up to 10% per year in interest payments. Despite this, the bond collapsed in 2020, meaning that Paul and Jane, ultimately, lost up to £40,000. “When we discovered that it wasn’t going to pay out, the feelings were sickening," says Paul, before adding that his wife and him had concerns when they saw that Blackmore Bond's guarantee scheme was based in Costa Rica.
