Senior corporate finance adviser arrested on conspiracy to defraud

Seneca Partners co-founder Ian Battersby

A co-founder of corporate finance firm Seneca Partners has been arrested by the City of London Police investigating allegations of a major fraud.

Ian Battersby, who is the business development director of Haydock-based Seneca Partners, was one of three former employees of Kingsbridge Asset Management questioned by police on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

Battersby told TheBusinessDesk.com the allegations are “groundless and without merit”.

Kingsbridge provided specialist financial advice to high net worth clients and invested money for a long list of international sports stars including Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Stuart Pearce, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff.

The City of London Police has launched a criminal investigation into the activities of Kingsbridge Asset Management and associated companies, alleging that “management and staff including financial advisors conspired together to defraud a large number of company clients, resulting in significant financial losses”. It believes there may be hundreds of people affected that may be victims of fraud.

Also arrested on Thursday were Kingsbridge’s co-founder Kevin McMenamin and adviser Alex Chamberlain, who subsequently worked together at Nottingham firm Castlegate Capital. The three men have since been released under investigation.

Kingsbridge was created in 1992 and established itself as a specialist sports IFA. It was bought in a £4.5m deal in 2003 by Proactive Sports, which became Formation Group, before Kingsbridge ceased trading in 2010.

Police are now appealing for victims and information about suspected investment fraud schemes.

City of London Police’s Detective Superintendent Perry Stokes said: “We are aware that there may be many people, impacted by the activities of this company and it is vital that those affected come forward so their voices are heard and we are able to support them and provide the advice that they may need.”

Battersby set up Seneca Partners after Kingsbridge closed, forming the advisory firm with Ian Currie, Steve Charnock and Richard Manley. His profile has been removed from the Seneca website since his arrest on Thursday although his email auto-responder says he is “on annual leave”.

He said: “I am happy to assist the police in relation to their investigations, however the historic allegations made against me personally are completely groundless and without merit.

“The unsubstantiated allegations refer to over eight years ago during my time at Kingsbridge Asset Management Ltd and have no connection to Seneca Partners Limited.

“I expect this to become clear following the investigations and during this time I will take a period of leave from Seneca Partners Limited.”

Seneca Partners confirmed Battersby remains part of the firm although distanced itself from the allegations.

It said: “Seneca has no relationship with Kingsbridge Asset Management Ltd and the matters being investigated, in fact the allegations, which are strongly refuted by Mr Battersby, pre-date the establishment of Seneca Partners Limited by a number of years.

“Mr Battersby is currently taking a period of leave from Seneca to allow him to focus on dealing with these historic allegations and during this time he will have no day to day operational dealings at any Seneca associated company.”

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