Swan Group

First exposed by OffshoreAlert in 2015, the Scotland-based Swan Group is a notorious vehicle for swindling investors, specializing in property-based investment scams. The group's controllers, at least until 2019, were Britons Philip McGinlay and Brian Weal, the later of whom has been a director of at least four British firms that have gone into liquidation. In one scam, Swan Group affiliate Etaireia Investments sought to raise funds from investors by announcing that it had received planning permission to build 152 residential units on land it owned in Scotland. After OffshoreAlert revealed this was false, trading in Etaireia's shares was suspended on the London-based ICAP Securities & Derivatives Exchange and the company publicly acknowledged that it hadn't even applied for planning permission, much less received it. Other frauds that Swan Group or its principals have been involved with include Advalorem Value Asset Fund, Kijani Commodity Fund, and Symtomax.