GRUMPY OLD MAN STRIKES BACK IN PHUKET – FISTS FLY PHOTO EXCLUSIVE

A Flying Sporran Holiday Island Soap Report

The Penguin, a flashy financial consultant exposed on this site last week, has had an adrenalised adventure.  It seems the ‘Grumpy Old Men Society’ of Phuket has at least one member who is not just grumpy and irritable but downright livid.

Hence the’Penguin’, real name Neal Davies, took a hit at the Nuan Bar in Rawai last week from a ‘GOMS’ member who not only floored him but also apparently gave him wounds requiring 14 stitches. The matter I am told was settled at the local police station in Chalong.

Hustler Davies is reported to have berated a ‘GOM’ after we revealed here that he was being cold shouldered by members of the club or society. It did not seem that serious  an action.

They had apparently taken Davies’ off their mailing list.  But this is quite clearly some sort of life threatening move because Davies, accompanied by his Singapore sidekick Clem Morrison, then allegedly made a termination threat to ‘Mr. Grumpy’  Then wham! the rest is history.

Wow, these grumpy old men must have some clout or at least their mailing list must have. God knows what could happen if Davies actually gets turfed out which I guess could now be on the cards.

Davies works in Phuket with Britons Peter Simmons, a former Emirates banker, and Clem Morrison, who who flies in periodically either with the stash, or company documents.

Their Fund companies running under the name ‘Caldora’ are registered in Mauritius, their Cadogan Property company in the British Virgin Islands. Their Elite Capital Solutions has been registered in many places, but Davies gives a Kuala Lumpur address for it. Steer clear of the lot.

And as for their Harlequin Income Investment Fund why would anybody want to invest in a company, Harlequin Property,  which has not filed its returns, has only built 200 of a promised 6000 properties, cannot pay its work force, and is currently running on fumes (someone else’s) while its directors fly in on private jets and try to hob nob with various island prime ministers.

And if they offer any of these  for sale, check the licences. You might find all they can legally do is sell ex-pat health insurance and pension plans.

Commented Australian Brett Masters a victim of Davies and Simmons, who says he is 3 million baht out of pocket on a hotel deal said:

 “I was informed that Davies claimed Clem Morrison hads connections to the IRA which he used as a threat. I guess there are a lot of people on the GOMS mailing list including a couple of self made billionaires whom these people wanted to meet or connect with.

“These people ripped me off and while they owed me the cash they would not even help me out with a hospital bill.”

Actually it’s not the first time ‘The Penguin’ has taken a hit. Something similar happened in Washington Square in Bangkok 12 years ago.  This was when Davies was running a company called ‘Elite Dining’ – one of many failed business ventures.

The idea was to cream advertising off restaurant owners in the capital to be part of his exclusive dining club which of course produced the usual restaurant booklet. Seems he got a lot of the cash and folded the company.  Thai staff rang up the foreign creative designer who did all his art work and asked for advice as they had not been paid some 600,000 baht.

The Liverpudlian graphic designer promptly advised them to consult the labour department. Hearing about this Davies went to Washington Square off the city’s Sukhumvit 22 and a bar called ‘Happy’ , known locally as ‘Sad 1’ (with neighbouring bars known as Sad 2 and Sad 3)  to threaten the graphic artist with death, also by the IRA I understand.

There was no need to call in the lads from the nearby ‘Dubliner’. Davies was surrounded by a guy called ‘Chelsea Nick’. People who know ‘Chelsea Nick’ will understand why I use the term surrounded. Two firey eyes and knuckles faced Davies from amongst a morass of tattoos.

Davies left and was subsequently aided quietly out of Thailand avoiding all his debts and returning later, this time to avoid the imposition of  a British  bankruptcy restriction order which runs until 2015.

‘Adrenalised Aventures’ is, by the way, the name of a company which Davies and his sidekick Peter Simmons somehow acquired from British South African Jacques Ellis on Phuket.

Actually Jacques uses stronger words than acquired..  Put it this way ‘Adrenalised Adventures’ was Jacques idea but he and his partner have been locked out. They have lost their investment and the two Brits have taken it over and even set up their own copycat website.

Bearing in mind that Davies has that bankruptcy order still against him in the UK, has upset people in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore, and neither have the trim figures to promote hair raising sports, such as white water rafting, bungee jumping, skydiving or whatever, this business is going nowhere unless they can get new slimmer people to play the sporting bosses…or they change the name to Arbuckle Adventures.

Davies however can however offer hair raising adventures in the bars of Phuket.

Davies and Simmons have been advertising properties in the Caribbean as their own thus giving punters the feeling that their investments in say The Caldora 360 Fund, or Harlequin Income Fund are safe. But to read about these properties just check out ‘Harlecon.net’ or even search for Harlequin here, and you will find tales of misery. We also related here how they took a 73-yr-old Australian woman for A$10,000.

Anyway Simmons and Davies are always threatening law suits against their detractors so I was a bit surprised not to receive the threat of a writ especially as they appear to have told everyone that had given me 24 hours to apologise.

But they HAVE warned me, I was told on the phone from Phuket. Below is the email they are supposed to have sent me. Its a bit informal for a letter threatening legal action.

Dear Mr Dummond (sic)

i have been made aware of the article you have published on your website , i would like to advise you that i will be taking legal action against you in thailand and also the uk for the untruths you have published against me.

No contact by you was made to me before you published these defamatory and liable statements against me.

Also it is evident you have received this inaccurate information from a disgruntled 3rd party.

if you wish to have the facts from me then i am prepared to supply them to you

However I must state that the majority of what you have published is pure hearsay and inaccurate and a respected journalist you should know better.

Following further communication from you I would expect that an apology is forthcoming and is published on your site and sent out to your subscribers .

If this does not happen I will as aforementioned instigate legal action against you.

it is a sad day when a member of the press can simply write a story slandering someone with no evidence against that person and by doing so cause them so much grievance and potential financial loss.

I am hoping that you are not simply running a tainted blog / website and that you will actually respond to me on the defamatory article you have written against me.

Please publish this email on your blog and contact me so I can put the record straight and we can agree that this might (subject to a retraction and apology) have been a mistake on your behalf.

I look forward to hearing from you asap.

I will have no option if i don’t hear from you within 24 hours than to put your article and its contents and accusations in the hands of my solicitors in Bangkok and the UK.

Neal Davies

Anyway here’s my reply. (updated)

Dear Mr. Davies,

Indeed there is a disgruntled third party and a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh etc. Perhaps you can come to terms with the aggrieved parties. You know who they are.

 Please feel free to present your reply to such allegations as:

Why you are promoting a portfolio of properties many of which do not exist or even have planning permission?

Why are you trading as a fund manager when a British bankruptcy court has specifically ordered you not to?

What licences have been granted to you in Singapore, Labuan and Kuala Lumpur?

Have you actually paid up for your shares in the Belair Panwa Resort and for the purchase of Elite Capital Solutions?

Are you legally trading in Thailand?

Yours etc

 Beware the Penguin!