Financial management company accused of deceiving clients into making failed investments

A widow who lost €263,000 in failed investments has today filed a judicial protest against investment company MFSP Financial Management Limited and the Malta Financial Services Authority, accusing the latter of taking advantage of her naivety and of deceiving her and her late husband into investing their life savings into failed investments.

In her judicial protest, Venerenda Cassar, 59, of Zabbar, claimed that she and her late husband were deceitfully tricked into investing all of their life savings by the defendant company and financial advisor Lorraine Falzon.  

The widow and her late husband, who died suddenly in 2008, had sold their bakery and upon advice by the company and the financial advisor, invested all their life savings into 10 investments valued at £70,000 (€88,200) and €175,000 – believing that they were of “low risk investments.”

But instead of receiving any interests, the plaintiff incurred substantial losses to the extent that nine out of ten investments are currently suspended while the other investment is incurring substantial losses.

Subsequently, the widow is claiming, it later transpired that the securities were meant for experienced and professional investors, and “not for someone with little to no knowledge of the financial sector.”

The widow is accusing the company of using “aggressive sales pressure” to coerce her and her late husband into investing. It is also accusing it of gross negligence, and breach of financial services laws.  

She is therefore requesting that the company reimburses her losses.