but one setback led to me working as a cleaner'
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A British expat who relocated to Spain for a relaxing retirement, has found himself taking on part-time jobs to make ends meet after losing his pension pot. Alan Brozel, who retired early at 50, moved from Barnet in north London to Gata de Gorgos on the Costa Blanca with his wife Paulene.
However, his dreams of a comfortable retirement were shattered when he handed over his £150,000 (€175,000) pension to Continental Wealth Management (CWM), a company that went bust.
Alan told the Daily Mail: "This was my whole pension, the whole lot, I'd only worked for a couple of companies, and they had invested wisely so the pot was substantial."
He had instructed CWM to invest in low-risk ventures, but claims they forged his signature to put his money into high-risk investments. Initially, CWM paid out dividends as expected, but the payments dwindled over time, reports Belfast Live.
Alan said: "The idea was we would all give up work and have numerous holidays around the world and the investment money would help cover that."
(Image: FACEBOOK)
Now, at 74, Alan is struggling to get by on his £600 (€700) state pension and is forced to take on odd jobs to supplement his income. "Now I'm 74 and I'm still working cleaning villas and looking after dogs in our house," he said
"There is no sign of me stopping. Paulene is still working too."
Alan and Paulene's chances of getting their investment back are slim after former CWM director, ex-model Jody Smart, was found guilty of fraud. Before the trial kicked off, company secretary Alan Gorringe passed away, and another exec, Darren Kirby, has gone missing.
(Image: Facebook)
A source told the Olive Press that Darren might be back on UK soil, commenting: "A judge is dealing with this and it's under legal review. We understand he is currently in England."
An irked Alan labelled Jody "an absolute con artist," fuming over his vanished life savings and rueing the fact that he'd even convinced mates to invest with CWM.
Many expats got caught out by CWM's schemes. A pensioner who didn't want to be named confessed to the Olive Press that out of the €470,000 he put in for "low to medium risk" ventures, €210,000 had vanished.
He recalled: "I was asked, 'Can you sign this blank form. We will fill in the details.' I did that trusting they would act in my best interests.
"They should have been looking out for me and they were just feathering their own nests. To me, they knew what they were doing."
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