Help For 79th Group Investors
Crowther Solicitors is representing 79th Group investors who have lost huge sums of money when the scheme collapsed in 2025.
Start Your Claim NowHelp For 79th Group Investors
Crowther Solicitors is representing 79th Group investors who have lost huge sums of money when the scheme collapsed in 2025.
The administrators' report estimates that investors collectively are owed more than £100m.
It is alleged that much of the money received by the multitude of companies that sat under the 79th Group was not invested.
A court has granted a worldwide freezing order (WFO) covering the assets of the directors of the 79th Group.
Counsel for the administrators of a number of 79th Group companies obtained the freeze of their assets, an asset disclosure order and the surrender of passports of the directors.
Barrister Eloise Hewson from Essex Court Chambers said the parties to the case were "alleged to have fraudulently misappropriated c. £200 million in company assets".
The firm attracted investment through slick marketing campaigns and generous fees to introducers. It is suggested that some introducers were getting up to 20% from the firm.
The 79th Group had a professional looking website that seemed to demonstrate the company was a great investment opportunity that had projects across the globe, from Africa to Canada.
However, by late 2024 it became clear that all was not well as investors stopped receiving the promised returns on their investment.
In February 2025, directors were arrested and the following month the firm stopped trading. The directors continue to deny any wrong-doing.
Missed opportunities with the 79th Group
The Times newspaper has reported that the FCA started investigating concerns around the 79th Group in September 2024.
However, the investigation was never made public and tens of millions of pounds of investment money continued to flow into the firm.
One investor from an overseas bank was warned not to put money into the scheme in November 2024, but despite this, it is reported that NatWest continued to accept money for the 79th Group until March 2025. This is despite the fact that directors were arrested in February 2025.
It was reported by The Times that one of the 79th Group's schemes received £60m after the FCA investigation had been begun.
The FCA has said that it was not in its remit to warn the public about the 79th Group as it was not a regulated firm.
Several Reddit groups had also raised concerns about 79th Group all the way back to 2023.
Crowther Solicitors is examining a variety of ways to help victims.
Crowther Solicitors believes that many 79th Group investors should be able to claim their money back via their banks. UK banks have a duty to protect their customers and the regulator requires them to reimburse investors if certain criteria are met.
However, banks and the Financial Ombudsman Service are currently saying that the 79th Group scheme was incredibly complicated and will not reimburse investors. We, and others, are pushing for this position to change but we cannot say when, or whether, that will happen.
The bank reimbursement model does have some limitations in that investors can often only reclaim up to £85,000 and must have sent their money from a UK bank. We are aware that many investors were from overseas.
For all these reasons, in the meantime, we are currently investigating a group action for 79th Group investors to see if we can help everyone to reclaim their money through litigation.
We are currently signing up 79th Group investors as we explore this possibility of group litigation while simultaneously protecting investors' positions under the bank reimbursement scheme.