Hello Readers,

You may recall my article in 2023 about how JVIP Group collapsed, owing £30m to investors. Well, in another very public affair, I have been reading about how Glenn Armstrong has recently been handed a bankruptcy order and restrictions lasting over 12 years.

There is even a website having been set up to warn people about Mr Armstrong’s bankruptcy!

I’ve been delving into the situation and it should serve as a stark warning to those seeing property as a ‘get rich quick’ scheme as well as those putting their trust in the so called ‘experts’.

Who is Glenn Armstrong?

Self-dubbed ‘the millionaire maker’, Glenn Armstrong runs a Property Millionaire Academy and provides resources to unsuspecting investors. At one stage Armstrong owned a total of 200 properties and a £3m mansion that we will cover off more of below.

His website states that Mr Armstrong provides the following services:

• Private client mentoring
• 12 month’s mentoring programme
• 4-day property course
• Free property masterclass
• Title splitting day
• Delayed completion day
• Property flipping day
• Rent to rent day
• Goal setting day

As well as claiming to have purchased 52 properties in 48 weeks with little initial investment, he also claims that there are 76 property millionaires through his training and explains that:

The Academy has helped new investors as well as experienced turn £100k into over £1,000,000 in 3 to 5 years. Some people start with little from £0. Its not uncommon for me to help someone invest a few thousand from a redundancy payment and work part-time to yield over £100k within 12 months. There’s a pathway appropriate to every person, dream and situation.

A bold claim isn’t it!

To close off this section, you might be interested to read how Armstrong also appeared on Channel 4’s ‘How the Other Half Live’ and ‘secret millionaire’. It looks like these episodes have since been removed from 4od’s website.

About the bankruptcy

Interestingly, bankruptcy proceedings began against Armstrong back in April 2018, when a creditor petitioned to make him bankrupt and following this, he provided false and misleading information that enabled him to obtain £273k.

He subsequently signed an undertaking with the FCA in December 2018, where Armstrong stated that there would be no further loan agreements entered into directly or through his companies.

Armstrong was handed an 18-month Bankruptcy Order in August 2022, which imposed restrictions until a final decision was made (as has now been finalised). This order meant he was unable to borrow more than £500 without telling a lender or act as a company director for 12 years.

He has now been handed an official 12 year bankruptcy order, following on from the 18 month BRO. You can read full details of the new order here.

It’s quite hard to piece together the full picture here, however one shocking article by PropertyTribes updated in March 2021 outlined how Armstrong’s debts exceeded £6.5m. The article outlines 38 creditors, with a balance of just over £5.5m owed was the running total:

• Petitioning Creditor: £138,720.00 (AN)
• Supporting Creditor: £61,131.77 (JF)
• Supporting Creditor: £68,022.00 (AFF)
• Supporting Creditor: £143,461.64 (DD)
• Supporting Creditor: £348,250.00 (JN)
• Supporting Creditor: £140,819.09 (EL)
• Supporting Creditor: £40,919.67 (TW)
• Supporting Creditor £112,400.00 (DP)
• Supporting Creditor £15,336.97 (KC)
• Supporting Creditor £26,663.50 (KT)
• Supporting Creditor £66,000.00 (LMM)
• Supporting Creditor £80,893.00 (JR)
• Supporting Creditor £27,000.00 (RR)
• Supporting Creditor £15,336.97 (KC)
• Supporting Creditor £7,800.00 (CM) (Held in Trust)
• Supporting Creditor £150,000.00 (SS)
• Supporting Creditor £485,665.00 (KC)
• Supporting Creditor £207,458.15 (AF)*
• Supporting Creditor £504,029.38 (SIPL)*
• Supporting Creditor £70,681.85 (G&APTL)*
• Supporting Creditor £126,840.00 (AH)
• Supporting Creditor £62,725.00 (FJ)
• Supporting Creditor £10,848.29 (TB)
• Supporting Creditor £118,000.00 (MT)
• Supporting Creditor £117,460.00 (JE)
• Supporting Creditor £7,000.00 (MB)
• Supporting Creditor £146,000.00 (SKP)
• Supporting Creditor £93,750.00 (BH)
• Supporting Creditor £49,200.00 (MM)
• Supporting Creditor £192,363.79 (MD)
• Supporting Creditor £436,681.58 (AK)
• Supporting Creditor £82,320.00 (PD)
• Supporting Creditor £250,000.00 (JC)
• Supporting Creditor £8,400.00 (JULB)
• Supporting Creditor £96,934.00 (RS)
• Supporting Creditor (Liquidator)
• Supporting Creditor £537,829.67 (Novitas Loans)
• Supporting Creditor £28,903.28 (NR)
• Supporting Creditor £350,000.00 (FK)
• Supporting Creditor £67,000.00 (VG)
• Supporting Creditor £40,000.00 (DG)
• There are also eight companies (totalling £566,987) and a number of personal CCJs. The company details are below and full details of the personal CCJs are on the above article from PropertyTribes:

GLENN ARMSTRONG’S PROPERTY MILLIONAIRE ACADEMY LTD*

£919

21/03/2019

F5GR066M

County Court Business Centre

*Glenn resigned on 17th August 2018, retrospectively passing control to (his new wife who has various self appointed names) after holding office for a day and informed Companies House on 28th March 2019, some 7 months later)

GLENNMARK TRADING LTD

07/03/2019

£219,415

E19YY531

County Court Money Claims Centre

05/10/2018

£23,049

E3QZ4R2C

County Court Business Centre

14/08/2018

£24,509

E58YX279

BRIGHTON

PROPERTY INVESTMENT TRAINING COMPANY LTD

08/01/2019

£613

E2QZ9K5X

County Court Business Centre

PROPERTY INVESTMENT TRAINING COMPANY LTD

19/02/2020

£1,672.00

G3DT210A

County Court Business Centre

SUTHERLAND INVESTMENT PROPERTY LTD

13/11/2018

£112,500

E30YX446

County Court Money Claims Centre

SUTHERLAND INVESTMENT PROPERTY LTD

13/11/2018

£100,152

D16YM139

Milton Keyes County Court

SUTHERLAND INVESTMENT PROPERTIES (MK) LTD (Company Dissolved)

28/07/2017

£5,886

D3QZ6E5H

County Court Business Centre

REDHILLS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LTD

01/02/2019

£1,142

F00YX715

County Court Money Claims Centre

I’m sure that your jaw will have hit the floor just like mine by now, but the deception doesn’t don’t stop there, as his £3m, seven-bedroom ‘trophy mansion’ was repossessed by bailiffs back in August 2022, however it is still used widely in his marketing efforts.

Here’s a fully anecdote from the repossession visit:

Mr Armstrong’s partner, Charlotte Laudat, 33, thought she was involved in a Hallowe’en prank when the gang first burst into the bedroom as she was tucked up in bed with her baby, according to police.

Daily Mail

You can view the state Armstrong’s house was left in with the video below

You will also see how his website is active and still promising to make investors rich, however after trying to sign up for his newsletter and materials, it does appear that the form is no longer active.

In terms of Armstrong’s financial position, I have sourced the graph below from a website set up to warn others about his affairs highlights how it looks like his debt total far outweighs his assets. It’s interesting however, as this article claims he was worth £300m in January 2023.

A warning to would be investors

This situation is yet another example of why investors should do their due diligence and be extremely wary when trusting anyone. It will certainly be easier to check company credibility when full profit and loss accounts are uploaded to Companies House!

Here are four key things to look out for:

• If the offer sounds too good to be true, then steer clear as it is (property is not a get rich quick scheme)
• Does the background of the individual involved check out against their claims?
• Do a Google Search and check the results that come up – are they expected or do they leave questions?
• Double check companies house and don’t rely just on the ‘name link’ feature as this does not always work well. Remember to check for variations of names as this can bring up liquidated businesses that might not appear otherwise.

I will end by quoting my article on JVIP group, which highlighted how:

Many people have undergone some form of property training and now believe themselves to be experts, allowing them to take money for investment. The opposite of a flashy website is when an investor possesses a poorly designed business card with only a Gmail address and a mobile number. These are investment opportunities that should be approached with extreme caution.

Finally, diversification is critical. Although property is an excellent asset class for long-term investment, it is unwise to put all of one’s eggs in one basket. Investors should consider a diversified portfolio that includes a wide range of investments, such as stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, cash, and other investments, and avoid taking on too much risk.

Keep investing… with caution!

Hasan