Finance company shut down after investigators uncover fraud concerns
Company wound up following Insolvency Service investigations
- Insolvency Service investigations into Basic Prime Limited discovered concerns that the company was involved in fraud
- The company, which claimed to be based in Croydon, had no genuine business presence, contact details not in operation, and a director who failed to provide information and documents that were requested
- Basic Prime Limited has been wound up in the public interest at the High Court
A company claiming to provide financial services which received around £175,000 from a client but failed to deliver promised services has been shut down.
Basic Prime Limited claimed to provide trade finance guarantees and credit enhancement services but was suspected by Insolvency Service investigators of operating an advance fee fraud scheme. The company at no time was registered as a financial services provider with the Financial Conduct Authority.
The company had agreed in April 2024 to arrange a financial guarantee worth $500 million (approximately £382 million) for a client - a type of bank-backed promise known as a standby letter of credit.
After the client paid an upfront fee of $231,000 (approximately £175,000), Basic Prime Limited failed to deliver the guarantee and stopped responding to the client by September 2024.
Basic Prime Limited was wound up at the High Court in London on Tuesday 25 November.
Mark George, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Basic Prime Limited presented itself as a legitimate financial services provider, but our investigation revealed a company that took substantial fees without delivering services.
The company operated with no transparency, maintaining a registered office where it had no actual presence and providing contact details that were not in service. The director failed to respond to any of our enquiries or provide any business records.
This case demonstrates our commitment to protecting the public from fraudulent operators. Companies that take money under false pretences and then disappear will not be allowed to trade.
Basic Prime Limited was incorporated in October 2023 and claimed to offer financial advisory services, asset management, and loan and credit consultancy.
According to its website, the company specialised in credit enhancement, project finance, and providing payment guarantees using standby letters of credit and bank guarantees.
When the Insolvency Service investigations began in May 2025, they discovered that Basic Prime Limited had no presence at its registered office in Croydon, which was a managed office space.
The company’s sole director could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Letters sent to addresses associated with the director were returned, with recipients stating they had no connection to Basic Prime Limited or the director.
Basic Prime Limited’s listed email addresses and telephone number did not work either.
Investigators also uncovered serious inconsistencies in the company’s official filings.
Basic Prime Limited claimed to have £1 million in paid-up share capital at incorporation, but its accounts suggested this capital was never actually paid.
Despite receiving the $231,000 fee in May 2024, the company filed dormant accounts showing no trading activity.
Further concerns emerged when investigators discovered that Basic Prime Limited had misrepresented its banking arrangements. The company claimed in its client agreement to hold an account with a major bank. The bank confirmed to the Insolvency Service that it had no banking relationship with Basic Prime Limited.
Basic Prime Limited and its director failed to provide any of the requested information or business records. This prevented investigators from establishing where the company actually operated from, who controlled it, its true financial position, or the extent of its trading activities.
The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of Basic Prime Limited.
All enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit: 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ. piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk.
Further information
- Basic Prime Limited (company number 15183902)
- The Insolvency Service can investigate complaints about corporate abuse by live companies. This may include serious misconduct, fraud, scams or dishonest practice in the way the company operates. Further information on our live investigations can be found here
- Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here.