Firm takes hard-up families' cash to help them out of red but bills go unpaid

Nov 23 2008 By Steve Dinneen

A SELF-STYLED blue chip company that took thousands from families to sort out their bills has gone bust...leaving victims further in debt.

Boss James Johnstone claimed MidScot were a top international company and boasted links to an African charity endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

He pledged to rearrange credit card and mortgage payments for struggling customers.

But at least 10 clients paid him fees then found none of it had been passed on to creditors.

We tracked down Johnstone, who drives a BMW 530i, as he shopped for golf clubs in Stirling.

He snapped: "Nobody has lost any money. I don't have anything else to say to you."

But he has been struck off by financial services watchdogs.

And last night a spokesman for Tutu's Fairfund Foundation said the charity is considering suing him for using their name.

A 36-year-old recruitment consultant from Glasgow, who asked us to protect her identity, says she has lost at least £2000.

She said: "I got myself into a lot of debt 10 years ago - £34,000 spread over several credit cards.

"MidScot sorted out a monthly payment of £200.

"By the end of last year I was getting threatening letters from people I owed money to, demanding I pay them. I even got a court summons. James Johnstone was very reassuring and told me there had been a problem with the bank.

"When the letters kept coming I tried to get back in touch but the number was dead.

"This has really knocked me off my feet."

One client was persuaded to remortgage their house for more than £46,000 and later handed over a further £20,000. They don't know how much - if any - has been used to pay their debts.

Another elderly couple were advised to remortgage their home and hand over the value.

MidScot also charged them £1000 in "administrative costs."

Eileen Blackburn, a liquidator for French Duncan said: "Following the paperwork has been difficult, so we can't say how many people are involved.

"We have not been able to contact the company directors, despite repeated attempts."

Johnstone was declared bankrupt in July and his home sequestrated by the court.

Yet he, his wife and daughter still live in their pretty converted farmhouse overlooking a village green in Bannockburn, near Stirling. They own a luxury BMW and Jeep.

MidScot were struck off the Financial Services Authority list of trustworthy financial advisors.

The FSA are still investigating them, as are Trading Standards and HM Revenue & Customs.

The firm's Stirling-based headquarters is up for sale.

Johnstone and his family own at least 15 companies - many of which are in liquidation.

They list their 22-year-old daughter Jennifer, who works for an accountancy firm, and other family members as directors in their businesses.

The MidScot website features pictures of New York and claims they are a global brand with international connections.

They also claim to be official ambassadors for the Fairfund Foundation, who invest in building projects in Africa.

But the charity's boss, Edgard Hall, said: "We have absolutely nothing to do with these cowboys and have had our solicitor ask them to remove our name from their website."

'We have absolutely nothing to do with these cowboys'

Charity boss Edgard Hall

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