We wrote quite a few articles about 88 Delicious, their Crowdcube raise, subsequent Crowdcube rub out and eventual collapse.
We removed them all when we were contacted by Alan Colton, the man who ran the company. He had a story to tell which seemed to be worth listening to about Crowdcube having his company closed down.
A few days ago Alan Colton pleaded guilty to two counts of Fraud at Basildon Magistrates Court - sentencing pending.
So we now know for sure that what he was offering through Crowdcube and what was in fact funded by them but then taken down, was fraudulent. We think that says a lot about Crowdcube's claims to carry out any due diligence.
What is still unexplained is how Mr Colton managed, after Crowdcube had deleted him, to contact all the investors privately. Many of them invested. They all lost all their money.
Its interesting that Crowdcube have managed so far to keep this quiet. Wonder why?
It's a slightly sordid, rather sorry tale and we are pretty sure that Sherlock would have moved heaven and earth to avoid having anything to do with either the Coltons or indeed Crowdcube.
It's not unexplained why the investors were contacted shortly thereafter by Alan Colton. When you ask for a business plan on Crowdcube the business owner receives an email with your contact information and sends a business plan direct to the investor. A fatal flaw made by the platform in my opinion. This is why Crowdcube is also guilty in this case - because Crowdcube facilitated an introduction which lead to fraudulent activity without warning potential investors when they had information (and they did have solid information hence why the pitch was removed) on the fraudulent documentation of Alan Colton which was uploaded via the platform and should have been through their usual rigorous due diligence processes. I maintain the fact that Crowdcube are to blame for this. On another note, is Mr Colton planning to reimburse investors still? And any word on the length of his sentence?
ReplyDeleteSentencing is at the end of the May I understand. I totally agree that the real culprit here is (as usual) Crowdcube. They released this information and then failed to inform investors that Alan Colton was dealing in fraud. If anyone reimburses you then it should be Dodgi Darren and Lucki Luke!
DeleteMay which year, 2017?
ReplyDeleteCertainly CC is at fault here, but your measurement of guilt is quite bizarre. Not passing on information should be worse than cheating people and taking fraudulently money from them?
And in your judgement Mr C should be allowed to keep that money while Darren & Luke should pay it back?
Seriously?!?
Sorry previous comment should say end of June! Mr c isnt keeping any money - he is probably going to prison and or fined. CC need to take responsibility - without them none of this would have happened.
DeleteCrowdcube doesn't give Alan my contact details, I don't lose my money. It's clear as that. They f*cked up, as did I not doing the correct DD myself. Lesson learned.
ReplyDeleteThis farce apparently forced them to change the way they disclose contact details to the businesses raising funds. Doesn't do me any help.
It's the simple fact CC completely washed their hands of ANY responsibility here which is what infuriates me most. It was my money and I was prepared to lose it, but a simple, sorry we screwed up wouldn't go astray here either.