Former Norton Motorcycles owner ordered to pay back £14m in missing pension funds

Stuart Garner, for the former owner of Castle Donington-based Norton Motorcycles, has been ordered to repay around £14m missing from retirement funds he controlled.

The Pensions Ombudsman has ruled that Garner acted “dishonestly” after he had been investigated over allegations that he repeatedly failed to return funds to the Commando 2012 Pension Scheme, the Donington MC Pension Scheme, and the Dominator 2012 Pension Scheme

The Pension Schemes Act requires trustees to transfer pensions within six months of an application. However, Garner invested all of the cash into struggling Norton.

Norton Motorcyles fell into administration in January, but was sold out to Indian firm TVS Motors in April in a £16m deal.

In its determination, the Pensions Ombudsman found that:

“The Trustee [Garner] acted dishonestly and in breach of his duty of no conflict, his duty not to profit and his duty to act with prudence; and the investments made by the [Garner into Norton] on behalf of each of the Schemes were made in breach of the Trustee’s statutory, investment and trust law duties.

The money owed is thought to be around £14m. Garner must also pay £180,000 to the original 30 applicants for “exceptional maladministration causing injustice”.