LSE listed Venture Capital Trusts - the ultimate PONZI scheme.

Upfront tax deduction reduced to basic rate tax and the launch of a "review". About time too. 10% upfront saving was apparently easier to implement and an easier sell to the public than scrapping tax free dividends, but it should have much the same effect. Will we now see VCT managers change their fee structures to "realised gains only"? Hardly likely given their obscene greed if they think they can get away with it rather than change to EIS and SEIS fee structures as it will play havoc with their income and cash flow. We should see massive consolidation in the sector after the flurry of even more new fund raisings and nowhere to invest them within 12 months, and as the FT reports one very reputable intermediary saying "it really will be a case of buy now while stocks last" . Heaven help the punters!   27 November UPDATE Links to "Review" documents Call for  Evidence:     https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692828f92a37784b16ecf615/Tax...

 Anyone running a book on how many FCA Aurthorised Investment Managers state: " we  rely  almost entirely for the success of our own business on endlessly raising new cash in VCTs " - or words to that effect? The answer is now well into double figures and proof positive that VCTs are the very definition of PONZI schemes. ...... but wait a minute, deeper financial analysis as a result of having to defend myself against the scurrilous litigation commenced by Octopus to block any and all shareholders ever soliciting a meeting of members, shows that things are even worse than at first thought and VCT managers have been scamming investors for years ... so by way of worked example let us use the example of Octopus' alltime "dog" of an investment that is Many Group Ltd ( https://manypets.com/uk ).... ... "dog" may seem a little harsh but in 2023 Octopus were still describing it as one of "..UK's generation-defining companies..some of which have ...

Just the tip of the iceberg? Yet more concrete proof that VCTs are an unchecked gravy train for Solicitors and Accountants. HK act in litigation, compliance and as FCA Sponsors so no conflicts there then! In Court 99 of the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday, a Judge found that Howard Kennedy llp had not only charged excessive fees but had duplicated the same work by multiple fee earners: how many lawyers does it take to read an email! The Judge reduced the billable hours by 40% and the rates claimed by 25%. That alone justifes, in law, the Directors of AAEV applying to have Howard Kennedy's actual invoices assessed and reduced - not least because VAT is not recoverable. Will they? I doubt it given the vested business interests of the Directors. The excuse given for seeking such outrageous fees was that it was necessary to protect the now shot-to-hades reputation of Albion Capital Group llp, and the Directors of AAEV, against my proven claims and their own admissions.. On the same d...

[ UPDATE 2 NOVEMBER] Food for thought. e&oe Outright proof that VCTs are not only a PONZI scheme but a total rip-off on taxpayers who, in this case, paid for more than the cost of the entire Investment Portfolio as an outright gift to the "super-rich". Octopus Investments should be hanging their heads in shame. Listen to the new CEO (ex the Silicon Valley Bank farce) admit the VCT structural failures at: https://sifted.eu/articles/erin-platts-podcast Do read and follow the new blog about the proposal to Liquidate OTV2 and save more than £100,000,000.  https://otv2go.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [UPDATE 20 OCTOBER] FOR STUDENTS OF THE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO OF OCTOPUS TITAN VCT PLC, THE URL BELOW IS AN ANALYSIS OF ALL  THE HOLDINGS at 31.12.24 WITH VALUATIONS GOING BACK TO 31.12.19. https://app.box.com/s/ct30barc75qfpi35xczt4eldxdjkwyz2 IT MAKES TRULY DREADFUL READING, A...

 Albion has just published the 3 documents for its fund raising effective on Monday 3 November 2025. https://albion.capital/offers/ Investors might just squeeze in before the Chancellor removes all Tax advantages on new share issues after 6 April 2025 - yes it is on her desk. EIS and BEIS schemes cost the taxpayer half the price of these ridiculous Annual VCT PONZI scams, and can be run as managed funds at half the cost to investors. Detailed analysis on the documents is just starting. tbc In the meantime: Share Prices:          Oct'21     Oct'25 AAEV                           107          105 AATG                           75               65 CRWN                       ...

  https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/octopus-titan-hit-by-297m-in-writedowns-and-write-offs-vkpmqlh36 https://www.ft.com/content/6c9b0a99-efd8-407b-ac9f-5c8a40a7b09f Copy for those without subscriptions at  https://app.box.com/s/di4jkzgj6rh7mcftzsj021p2nhax3ph2 “However, dividends are ordinarily a distribution of investment gains (of which a material proportion should be realised rather than unrealised), which have not been achieved over the six-month period ended in June 2025 or in recent years.” What a load of tosh! The analysis is just starting. Octopus does not start with clean hands. See Companies House records of Titan and Apollo when the Directors lied about merger shares issued.  Good job there is a shareholder meeting on Monday 13 October 2025. I will be there.

Not only are the Albion VCT scams riddled with fraud and criminal misconduct by the Directors and Investment Manager, but the whole "industry" is shown by HMRC to be a rip-off on UK taxpayers as proved by HMRC's own numbers Invested in start-ups (initial and follow-on)          Cost to tax payer EIS:                                                  £1,575m                         <£473m* SEIS:                                                 £242m                           <£121m ** VCTs:            ...