High Court Exposes £2.8m Care Home Investment Linked to Hartlepool Property..
Private Jets, Luxury Yachts and £2.8m in Investments: High Court Exposes Collapse of Care Home Empire
11th October 2026
A failed luxury care home investment scheme involving a property in Hartlepool has become the subject of a major High Court ruling, after investors who collectively paid more than £2.8 million pounds successfully established liability against a property marketing company over investments that ultimately collapsed & leaving them with nothing.
One Touch Solution Limited, a property investment marketing company now in creditors' voluntary liquidation, was taken to the High Court over its involvement in selling individual rooms within a number of proposed luxury residential care homes operated by the Carlauren Group.
The Carlauren Group was a UK property developer that collapsed into administration in November 2019 after raising approximately £76 million from more than 600 private investors for a luxury care home scheme described as a Ponzi-style fraud. The SFO Carlauren Group Case launched a formal criminal investigation into the business back in March 2024, where the Serious Fraud Office then raided sites in Dorset and Buckinghamshire, making three arrests as part of the ongoing fraud investigation. Subsequent civil actions and legal disputes have also targeted third-party investment marketers involved in promoting the scheme.
Among the properties identified in the the most latest court proceedings was a care home development located at Park Avenue in Hartlepool, where a South African couple had reportedly invested more than £71,000 in what they believed would be a secure investment and continuing financial returns.
However, the wider investment scheme subsequently collapsed, leaving purchasers across the world having lost all of the money they'd invested, with the High Court ruling that One Touch Solution Ltd was liable to investors in the proceedings, rejecting the company's argument that it had simply acted as a marketing intermediary passing on information from the property developer.
Hartlepool Property Sold to Overseas Investors
According to the judgment, Walter and Elke Funk, who lived in South Africa, purchased Care Studio 4 at Park Avenue in Hartlepool in December 2017.
Their investment was recorded in the proceedings as being £71,229. The court heard that Mr Funk, a mechanical engineer and businessman, had initially received marketing information from One Touch before attending one of the firm's investment presentations in South Africa.
These presentations formed part of an international sales operation designed to attract people seeking investment opportunities within Britain's residential care sector.
The scheme promoted the purchase of individual care home rooms, with investors expecting income from the future operation of the facilities.
The Hartlepool investment was said to be just one of a number ofc properties sold across the country, including proposed developments in Cornwall, Devon, County Durham and the Isle of Wight.
But the court heard that by the middle of 2019, the developer's care home schemes had ultimately failed, with some properties never even having any redevelopment work undertaken, while others remained unfinished and never commenced operating as the luxury care homes originally envisaged.
Millions Invested in What Was Presented as a Secure Opportunity..
The court case involved 28 claimants, including individuals, some of whom had reportredly invested all of thier retirement savings, inheritances and other personal funds into the doomed venture where the court determined an amount in its official judgment to be £2,814,195.20.
Investors alleged that One Touch marketed the developments as straightforward investments promising regular income, with some promotional statements referring to guaranteed rental yields of 10% over ten years.
They also claimed that assurances were made about buyback arrangements, occupancy levels and the financial security of the investments.
According to the judgment, One Touch sold 93 units directly, with another 39 sales arranged through sub-agents. The court was told that the sales would have generated commission for One Touch running well into seven figures.
However, the issue mukllked by the court was whether the company could avoid any legal responsibility in the case by arguing that it was merely repeating information provided by the developers.
One Touch denied the claims, maintaining that it was acting as a marketing agent and argued that the investors' losses resulted from alleged wrongdoing within the developer group rather than any breach of duty by One Touch, with the court rejecting the firms defence.
Private Jets, Luxury Yachts and Expensive Cars
Among the details contained within the judgment were findings recorded by the administrators of the collapsed Carlauren Group where administrators found the group had invested in assets that were not integral to the advertised business model, including A private jet, Expensive cars and luxury yachts. & Two private residences, as well as other items.
The administrators concluded that the way the group's business and purchases had been conducted, together with inadequate financial control, contributed to its financial unsustainability and eventual collapse.
The judgment also highlighted the position at Windlestone Hall in County Durham.
According to the administrators' figures cited by the court, the property had been purchased for approximately £850,000 in December 2017.
Yet 53 investment units had reportedly been sold with a combined value of more than £8.5 million pounds. Despite those sales, the estimated cost of completing the necessary redevelopment work stood at £10 million, and no interior works had commenced.
High Court Rejected Company's Defence..
One Touch maintained throughout the proceedings that it was not providing independent financial advice and was simply introducing potential investors to opportunities offered by the developers.
However, Recorder Bignell KC concluded the company's actual dealings with prospective purchasers went simply beyond just distributing sales literature. The court examined the representations made to investors, the information provided about the developments and the degree of responsibility One Touch had assumed when promoting the scheme, where the judgment found that One Touch owed relevant duties to investors and established liability for the purposes of the first stage of the proceedings.
Investors Face Further Legal Proceedings to Recover Money
Although the judgment represents a significant development for the investors, it does not however mean those involved will ever receive their money back from the colapsed firms where its claimed further questions remain outstanding over possible compensation and the extent to which One Touch's professional indemnity insurer, Hiscox Insurance Company Limited, may be responsible for meeting any resulting awards.
The ruling also established that two claims were ultimately prevented from proceeding because the individuals concerned had previously accepted final decisions through The Property Ombudsman, while separate exceptions concerned a corporate claimant and an additional hotel investment claim where for those who invested in the failed Carlauren Group development, the latest judgment marks an important legal milestone after years of uncertainty, But also leaves questions over compensation and insurance coverage outstanding, as the battle to recover losses which investiors made on the failed scheme goes on. .
