STORY
A whisky investment company has been wound up after customers paid almost £100,000 for casks that many of them did not legally own. Cask Spirits Global Limited was closed by the High Court in London on 25 August following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
Investigators identified 17 customers who had paid the company a combined £97,249, but found that only four possessed valid ownership documentation. Some customers received certificates for casks that did not exist, while other casks were registered to the company or supposedly held at warehouses which had no connection with it. One investor was reportedly promised returns of between 120% and 150%.
The company attracted customers through social media advertising and cold calls, using what the Insolvency Service described as high pressure sales techniques. It also traded as “Cask Spirits Ltd”, although no company with that name was registered at Companies House, and failed to provide 27 of the 29 accounting documents requested by investigators. The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator, while the Insolvency Service said the full extent of customers’ losses could be higher than the amount currently identified.