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INTRODUCTION
This Blog is dedicated to making public some of the business activities and methods of Liam Collins, David Bone Jr and their associates. In the spring of 2010, the present authors invested in Collins & Bone (C&B), who were offering an enticing 8-10% interest on the basis of buying houses for cash, renovating them and letting them out to students. We were assured that our money was secured against houses that they owned, including their own homes and the properties held by their associated company, Castle & Gatehouse (C&G). We have emails and brochures that confirm these details, as do others who invested on this same basis at around the same time. The idea worked for us for over a year, then in November 2011 they told us they were insolvent. They refused our every request for clear accounts, which led us to suspect wrongdoing. We began an investigation and then started this Blog. We found our suspicions confirmed: other investors had lost sometimes quite large amounts to C&B and its predecessor CBS, and all requests for repayment were adamantly refused. These people use and have used so many names that we found it necessary to compress them into CoBo (for Collins & Bone) and Coboco (for the whole bunch of them – there are quite a few!) Note that there is an index in the margin at the right hand side.

Sunday 1 January 2012

SO, WHO’S IN CHARGE?

To find out who is responsible for the Collins & Bone/Castle & Gatehouse operation, we trace it back to a brochure that was issued in 2008. The following table shows the Management Structure of CBS. This was sent to investors and prospective investors in 2008:

Now please compare this to the Castle and Gatehouse Management Structure, which was sent out in 2010:

As  can be seen, they are virtually the same. Further, in the CBS Background Information brochure, it states:

‘CBS is today a thriving property investment firm well positioned to capitalise on exciting opportunities as we continue through this recession and begin to work our way out of it. Liam and David knew that without the right structure and guidance from senior heads they would be unable to grow as quickly as envisaged. It is for this reason CBS engaged the services of David Bone Snr as Chairman. He brings 15 years management experience to the fore, and Mish Liyanage our Financial Controller who’s expertise lies in risk assessment. Mark Black, our CEO, has been added to an already impressive team and brings 8 years experience at CEO/MD level.’ (page 3)

It should be clear from the above evidence that David Bone Snr and Mark Black are not to be dissociated from the business activities of the Liam Collins and David Bone Partnership. These brochures could hardly have been produced and sent out without the knowledge of David Bone Snr and Mark Black. More than one hundred investors  entrusted money to CBS and the Collins and Bone partnership which they were told had the backing and expertise of David Bone Snr and Mark Black, who were experienced and well-established in the business.

Investments were invited and made on the basis that houses were being bought for cash. Now investors are told that this is not the case. If the investors' money did not buy houses, exactly what happened to it? As of this writing, no-one is being told, but since the truth about it will eventually have to come out, we are pressing for this to happen sooner rather than later. There seems to be little sense in trying to drag it out and any movement of assets in the meantime will be traceable. 

NB - It is generally understood that the senior executives of a company bear responsibility for its activities and finances. There is no implication that all those named on the company structures above have been involved in wrong-doing.The purpose of showing these structures is to demonstrate the continuity between the business concepts CBS, Collins & Bone and Castle & Gatehouse.

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