No worries, I only decided to post after what we've been through recently, & I didn't want to sit here typing all morning so didn't post all of my thoughts, but I had my spider senses tingling from the first CEO post - littered with spelling mistakes, poor punctuation, & silly comments like people being "jealous," having "axes to grind," etc. A CEO posting in the first place doesn't sit right to my mind, but if they did surely it would be just to the point, not full of silliness.
Anyway, a couple of other things to think about, since I haven't been kicked for posting so far
1) If you employed a lawyer in any country, for any purpose, wouldn't you just employ their services, have them bill you, & then pay the bills? Surely a lawyer dealing with property transactions would be employed on a straightforward basis. Why would you give them a luxury beach front appartment, etc, or whatever it was? Do big property developers in the UK do that with their solicitors?
Is there really a need to bring the lawyer "into the fold" to that extent & at that cost?
Why would you do that?
Why would the lawyer, in the CEOs words "try to blackmail" him?
For what purpose?
If I had a cynical mind, & if I were thinking about writing a story on how I might con people into giving me their money in a property developing scam this is how my story might go (this is not making any comment or inference on any company, person, persons, or events, this is a pure & simple literary fantasy):
1) pick a foreign country with an archaic legal system to make it hard for investors to pursue me & give me time to escape with the loot.
2) set up a psuedo legal company to handle things from the UK end - I wouldn't want an independent lawyer doing the due dilligence - otherwise the game would be up before I got 1 penny.
3) Bring in a dodgy lawyer in the foreign country to do the same thing for the same reason.
4) hook in as many gullible investors in the UK who are entranced by the property boom & keep it going as long as possible
5) escape with a big bag of money
Obviously I would need to cut various people in, & the problem with criminals is that they get greedy. In my story perhaps my foreign lawyer gets too greedy once he sees how much money is coming across his desk, & I refuse to give him more. He'd probably threaten me. He might try & blackmail me into giving him more by threatening to spill the beans. If I kicked him out he might well start causing trouble by contacting the investors he knew of & trying to portray himself as a "white knight." He might even offer to work for them to try & make some more money.
Oh, there's a whole load of different avenues I could go down with my story, maybe in the end it turns out that its all above board & people are simply trying to get money out of me because they know I have it.
But would anyone believe such a fanciful storyline?
Probably not the investors.
Anyway, back to the real World - irrespective of whether or not you believe or disbelieve whats being said by either side, & ireespective of whether you think its fair or not, you have a duty to only one person & that is you. Make sure that you do what is best for you & you alone, & if you have doubts & stand to potentially lose money, then go & get independent legal advise. It will cost you probably a few hundred quid & could save you thousands. If you all chip in together you can all find out the truth & it'll cost you not much when you split the cost.
Good luck.
Anyway, a couple of other things to think about, since I haven't been kicked for posting so far
1) If you employed a lawyer in any country, for any purpose, wouldn't you just employ their services, have them bill you, & then pay the bills? Surely a lawyer dealing with property transactions would be employed on a straightforward basis. Why would you give them a luxury beach front appartment, etc, or whatever it was? Do big property developers in the UK do that with their solicitors?
Is there really a need to bring the lawyer "into the fold" to that extent & at that cost?
Why would you do that?
Why would the lawyer, in the CEOs words "try to blackmail" him?
For what purpose?
If I had a cynical mind, & if I were thinking about writing a story on how I might con people into giving me their money in a property developing scam this is how my story might go (this is not making any comment or inference on any company, person, persons, or events, this is a pure & simple literary fantasy):
1) pick a foreign country with an archaic legal system to make it hard for investors to pursue me & give me time to escape with the loot.
2) set up a psuedo legal company to handle things from the UK end - I wouldn't want an independent lawyer doing the due dilligence - otherwise the game would be up before I got 1 penny.
3) Bring in a dodgy lawyer in the foreign country to do the same thing for the same reason.
4) hook in as many gullible investors in the UK who are entranced by the property boom & keep it going as long as possible
5) escape with a big bag of money
Obviously I would need to cut various people in, & the problem with criminals is that they get greedy. In my story perhaps my foreign lawyer gets too greedy once he sees how much money is coming across his desk, & I refuse to give him more. He'd probably threaten me. He might try & blackmail me into giving him more by threatening to spill the beans. If I kicked him out he might well start causing trouble by contacting the investors he knew of & trying to portray himself as a "white knight." He might even offer to work for them to try & make some more money.
Oh, there's a whole load of different avenues I could go down with my story, maybe in the end it turns out that its all above board & people are simply trying to get money out of me because they know I have it.
But would anyone believe such a fanciful storyline?
Probably not the investors.
Anyway, back to the real World - irrespective of whether or not you believe or disbelieve whats being said by either side, & ireespective of whether you think its fair or not, you have a duty to only one person & that is you. Make sure that you do what is best for you & you alone, & if you have doubts & stand to potentially lose money, then go & get independent legal advise. It will cost you probably a few hundred quid & could save you thousands. If you all chip in together you can all find out the truth & it'll cost you not much when you split the cost.
Good luck.
