The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has embarked on court proceedings against Park First Ltd, its CEO and senior managers and other connected companies, over an allegedly illegal collective investment scheme established to operate car park investments using funds from members of the investing public which raised approximately £230 million from 4,500 investors.

The FCA is asking the courts to make compensation orders in respect of losses that the investors sustained in the Park First scheme. It wants to receive the monies itself and then to pay them on to the investors.

The FCA alleges that Park First promoted the scheme to the public using false or misleading statements, saying that investors could realistically expect returns of 10% in years 3 and 4 of their investment and 12% in years 5 and 6 with no proper basis for saying so. Park First also allegedly suggested that the investments were worth 25% more than the price for which they were being sold, citing independent valuations while being aware that the valuations were based on unrealistic returns. It also wants injunctions to stop the executives from doing the same again.

The CEO is Toby Scott Whittaker, John Slater is a director and the companies involved in or connected to the scheme (apart from Park First) are Harley Scott Residential (previously known as Park First Glasgow Limited), Park First Skyport, Paypark, Help-me-park.com and Group First Global. Four of the Park First companies involved in the scheme are in administration.

The FCA took action to stop these companies from continuing to market these investments in 2016. It struck a deal with them by which they offered all investors a chance to redeem their investments through buybacks, or continue with their investments in a revised form that was structured to avoid being a collective investment scheme (using lifetime leases). They failed to meet their commitments, which explains the four liquidations.