Ex-banker in £500k police probe
A FORMER RBS banker is under police investigation after a group of investors lost more than £500,000 in a property deal.
Robert Quigley, who was trading under the name of Lothian Property Portfolios with his wife Denise, is said to have promised lucrative returns to the five in return for investing in dozens of properties he let out across West Lothian.
But since parting with their money up to three years ago, they say they have yet to receive a penny and have called in the police.
Mr Quigley is said to have had between 20 and 30 properties, and it is understood many have been repossessed and the tenants evicted after the mortgages were defaulted on.
Mr Quigley, of Livingston, would only say that he fully intended to "meet the obligations" to the investors.
But one of them, successful businessman Peter Noon, who has known Mr Quigley since childhood, told the Herald & Post he was "on fire with rage" after losing his life savings.
Mr Noon, 36, from Livingston, who co-owns a construction firm based in Cumbernauld, invested along with four friends.
He said: "He's already told us all the money is lost so how he intends to fulfil his 'obligations' is beyond me. We're all left with nothing while he's living in a 300,000 house."
He said Mr Quigley – who worked as an investment advisor with RBS from 2001 to 2003 – offered him a portfolio of nine properties in return for an investment of around 180,000.
But he said that Mr Quigley later cited the credit crunch and property crash for the failed investments as he claimed his properties had fallen in value and he had to pay around 14,000 for maintenance.
He said: "I've known this guy for most of my life as we grew up close to each other.
"I've spoken to him on the phone many times and he still can't give me a straight answer as to where our money went.
"He hasn't invested a penny of our money and told me so.
"Everyone knows house values decreased, but that's not an issue here because he, or his wife, was still receiving the same incomes from rents.
"I invested my life savings with him and one of the bank transfers went directly into his wife Denise's bank account.
"I've been told as well by my lawyer the contracts that were drawn up aren't worth the paper they're written on.
"When the penny dropped that I wouldn't be seeing any money, my whole body was on fire with rage. I was burning."
He said one of the investors was left with another mortgage to pay after remortgaging his own house to invest with Mr Quigley, and is paying an extra 550 a month.
Another investor, who lost 100,000, said: "We all trusted him with big sums of money. I could handle it if he had given us some sort of explanation."
A police spokesman confirmed an investigation was under way.
Mr Quigley refused to answer questions put to him by the Herald & Post. He would only say: "I have a business arrangement with certain investors and fully intend to meet the obligations of that."
Livingston MSP Angela Constance expressed her concerns after being asked for advice by the investors.
She said: "Constituents have spoken to me about this matter and others like it and I am deeply concerned about the situations that many of my constituents have found themselves in.
"Some of my constituents have had their lives turned upside down and there is still a stigma about discussing financial matters that have went wrong.
"It is important that people have the confidence to report their concerns and experiences and I am more than happy to speak to anyone with concerns of this sort and to help them to contact the appropriate authorities."
SINGLE MUM WAS ONE OF MANY EVICTED FROM QUIGLEY PROPERTIES
ONE tenant of Robert Quigley has told how she was evicted from her home when it was repossessed.
The single mum, who asked not to be named, lived in a house at Elie Avenue in Deans for several years before being thrown out last October.
She insists Mr Quigley was paid 500 in rent every month from the council without fail into a bank account as she received housing benefits.
The tenant also said Mr Quigley took an extra 50 in cash every month and would visit her house to collect it.
She said: "There was a lot of work that needed done in the house but it never was and when I said I was going to stop paying him he threatened to throw me out.
"Then I started receiving letters from the sheriff and lawyers saying I was being evicted.
"When I told him about them he just told me to ignore them and that it was all sorted. But then I was evicted and the exact same thing happened to another four women who were single mums like me and lived close by."
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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