MPs increase pressure on Capita to compensate 20,000 Arch Cru victims

By Jeff Prestridge for The Mail on Sunday
Updated:


Angry victim: Rose Heaword, who has lost £50,000, says justice must prevail

Angry victim: Rose Heaword, who has lost £50,000, says justice must prevail
- Read her story

Members of Parliament have vowed to keep the pressure on outsourcing giant Capita to cover in full the losses incurred by 20,000 investors in failed retail fund business Arch Cru.

- IN DEPTH: Why Arch Cru victims are angry at Capita's 'wrongdoings'

The determination of MPs from all the main political parties to get Capita, authorised corporate director to the Arch Cru funds, to cover all losses comes as investors are told what share of a £54million financial redress scheme they are entitled to.

The money is being offered by Capita, HSBC and BNY Mellon who were meant to safeguard fund investors’ money but failed to do so, leading to the Arch Cru funds being suspended in March 2009.

Letters were sent out last Friday by Capita with investors being given until the end of next year to accept the cash offer on the table.

 

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Controversially, investors who take the money will lose their right to pursue Capita in the courts. It is also expected that at best investors will  walk away from Arch Cru still nursing losses in the region of 40 per cent.

Guy Opperman, Conservative MP for Hexham, has been at the forefront of a campaign by MPs to get Capita to pay more. In a parliamentary debate 10 days ago, he said:

'Either it [Capita] provides 100 per cent compensation, or it will find it has few friends in this House.'

He also said, as a former fraud prosecutor, that the Serious Fraud Office should look into Arch Cru as a result of the alleged misappropriation of fund assets by parties – not Capita - involved in the running of the funds business.

On Friday, Opperman told Financial Mail: 'I have twelve constituents who have lost money in Arch Cru. The experience for them has been emotionally damaging and they have been kept waiting far too long for compensation. And when redress finally comes along it’s not enough.  Justice must prevail and Capita has the financial muscle to organise a fair and speedy settlement.'

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