On the go: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been pressed to take an interest in the ever-growing pension scams issue to stop it becoming a “national scandal”.
In an open letter to the PM, published on Monday, Andy Agathangelou, founder of the Transparency Task Force, said the PM’s support was key and that under “leadership through visible personal interest”, parliament could stop pension scams reaching “pandemic-like proportions”.
The letter followed a meeting with Mr Johnson last week to discuss the scams issue.
It also urged other members of the government to show leadership, and called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to support the proposal drafted by Margaret Snowdon, chair of the Pension Scams Industry Group, for a tax amnesty for pension scam victims.
According to Mr Agathangelou, this would enable HM Revenue & Customs to treat pension scam victims more fairly and stop it from having to “profit from the proceeds of crime”.
In August, the Financial Conduct Authority warned more than £30m had been lost to pension scams in the past three years alone, with individual losses ranging from less than £1,000 to as much as £500,000.
Mr Agathangelou warned Mr Johnson not to underestimate the scale of the problem or the ingenuity of scammers to adapt and come up with new ways to steal savers’ pensions.
He said: “Perhaps under your ‘leadership through visible personal interest’, you may be able to harness the power of a bipartisan parliament to get the pension scams problem under control, and thereby deliver a shining example of the scarce, sought-after and special prize that is a united parliamentary success.
“I pray, for the sake of pension scam victims — past, present and, regrettably, future — that you can find a way to give our collective efforts for this noble and necessary cause your visible blessing.”
The letter praised the leadership already shown by Bob Blackman, chair of the newly formed All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pensions Scams, and Stephen Timms, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, who has opened an inquiry into pension scams.
Mr Agathangelou added: “Perhaps now more than ever the world is looking to the UK as a beacon of fairness, justice and integrity.
“As a global leader in financial services, the UK has a real opportunity to show that it takes all kinds of financial crime seriously, and that it is a safe, fair and transparent place to do business.”
This article originally appeared on ftadviser.com
