Scam whisky investment firm shut down after customers left thousands of pounds out of pocket

Company wound up following Insolvency Service investigations

A whisky investment firm has been shut down after customers paid for casks they never legally owned.

Cask Spirits Global Limited used high-pressure sales tactics to sell whisky cask investments, promising customers substantial returns and tax advantages.

However, of the 17 customers the Insolvency Service identified who paid a total of £97,249, only four had valid ownership documentation.

True losses may be even higher as the company failed to provide 27 of the 29 requested accounting documents.

Some customers received certificates for casks that did not exist. Others were registered in the company’s name rather than their own or referred to warehouses with no relationship to the company at all.

Certificates also contained false storage location information.

Indeed, one customer, who had been promised returns of 120-150%, was told his cask was stored at a bonded warehouse in Scotland. When he checked, the warehouse denied any connection to the company.

Cask Spirits Global Limited was wound up at the High Court in London on Tuesday 25 August.

Mark George, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Our investigations identified serious concerns about the way Cask Spirits Global Limited was run and the harm caused to customers who invested in good faith.

People handed over thousands of pounds for whisky casks they never legally owned.

Despite claiming to have stopped trading, the company appeared to still be active and posed an ongoing risk to the public. We will not hesitate to act where a company cannot be trusted with people’s money.

Cask Spirits Global Limited was incorporated in June 2024.