[2025] EWHC 2830 (Ch)

In his witness statement dated 11 October 2024, Mr Kubik explains that he and Mr Johnson were appointed on 29 July 2022 as the joint administrators of HPL, being, a personal pension service provider authorised by the FCA. HPL’s principal business is the establishment, operation and administration of various self invested personable pension schemes ( SIPPS ) and small self administered schemes ( SSAS ) operating approximately 17,000 of SIPPS and SSAS. There are 21 separate SIPPs containing circa 16,500 SIPP accounts with each SIPP being governed by a trust deed and rules. According to Mr Kubik, the trust deed and rules of the various SIPPS set out the powers of the SIPP operator, ( being HPL or HPL under power delegated to it by previous operators ) administrator and trustee. The trust deed and rules are not in evidence, but it would appear that HPL would hold the scheme assets on trust for the beneficiaries. HPL also administers around 350 SSAS containing about 840 individuals. Each SSAS is governed by its own trust deed and rules. These are not in evidence before me.

Mr Kubik states that from his review in his role as Joint Administrator, between 13 January 2020 and 29 October 2021, the sum of £25,886,785 has been misappropriated from a number of SIPPS and SSAS operated by HPL. He states that the misappropriated monies were transferred from various SIPPS and SSAS accounts and he believes this occurred without the consent of the beneficiaries. From his investigations to date, he states that sums were transferred from HPL to WSLL, Wilton UK or another entity called Argon Financial Limited/Segray Group Limited. He believes that certain sums were taken from HPL accounts without the authority of beneficiaries to the various relevant SIPPS or SSAS. He states that some of the sums taken out appear to have been replenished over time but he is unable to say that all the sums have been fully repaid. He also has concerns relating to the origin of the sums which appear to have been used by the GM companies (or Mr Flanagan ) to pay back to the HPL beneficiaries the sums which had been removed. He states that certain sums which he believes were taken without the authority of the beneficiaries were replenished over time, but he is unable to say whether those sums have been fully repaid.

He explains that it is unclear from the bank statements he has seen whether all the principal amounts have been repaid and that the interest redemption statements provided by Mr Flanagan do not match the payments received into the HPL accounts. He considers that, in any event, the source of the funds used for repayment requires, in his opinion, further investigation. The primary payment made into HPL members accounts relied upon by the GM Companies is the sum of £13,000,000 which according to Mr Flanagan, was paid to HPL on around 5 April 2022.

He understands that the source of this payment was an Isle of Man trust called the ‘Voula Settlement’. He believes (although he does not provide any detail as to this belief or where he obtained this information) that the trust was established by individuals from Ukraine who may have connections with politically exposed persons from Ukraine. He has concerns relating to money laundering and he states that he is in communication with the Wilton/Cyan Joint Administrators who hold information relating to the Voula Settlement.

He exhibits email correspondence between Hubwise, the platform used by HPL for managing funds and Mr Blaine Davis wealth management analyst at Wilton UK. Mr Davies sent an email to Hubwise notifying them that Wilton UK was preparing to make a payment of £13 million which Mr Kubik believes was from the Voula Settlement. Mr Davies stated in a further email that the payment should be transferred to GM 1001. Hubwise had concerns relating to the size and provenance of the funds. Internal emails within the Wilton Group discuss the response to Hubwise. The latter entity had explained the money laundering concerns raised by reasons of the size of the transaction and the fact that the payment was being directed to a third party account. Additionally, despite requests, the details of the ultimate beneficial owner had not been provided to Hubwise.

Thereafter, Mr Kubik notes that instructions were given to transfer the funds to WSLL who then forwarded the payment to GM 1001. Mr Kubik’s concerns as he set out in his witness statement is that the circular way the payment was made to HPL was effectively seeking to bypass proper anti money laundering checks. Additionally, he states that he is aware of allegations suggesting that the £13 million was stolen from the Voula Settlement. This is also what Mr Andronikou states in his witness statement. He states that certain individuals are suing Mr Flanagan over what Mr Kubik calls the misappropriation of the £13 million. When he was cross examined, Mr Flanagan confirmed that there are proceedings brought by the Voula Settlement representatives against him and others, but he stated this was due to a misunderstanding and he considered those proceedings would be settled. Mr Flanagan did not dispute that the £13 million came from the Voula Settlement. In his fifth witness statement dated 16 January 2025 (in reply to Mr Kubik’s first witness statement), Mr Flanagan states that he was on the board of trustees of the Voula Settlement and he states, ‘The money originated from Mr Bondik’s business, which is the extraction and distribution of bentonite clay, and was transferred under our management having received a clean bill of health by the Ukrainian and Swiss authorities.’

No documents have been produced by Mr Flanagan in support of this statement and no details are provided as to the basis upon which the Voula Settlement provided the sum of £13 million. He provided no details as to what was the arrangement between himself, and/or one of the Wilton companies and the Voula settlement in relation to the £13million.

Accordingly, Mr Kubik states that HPL has an economic interest in the funds even though his investigations have not as yet been completed and as well as his outstanding concerns relating to the provenance of the Voula Settlement monies.