Norton Motorcycles story to run and run
Stuart Garner, Norton's ex owner has to pay back the £14m in missing pension money – no quarter given by the pensions ombudsman
A Beautiful Norton at a recent Brands Hatch Track Day
The ombudsman has decreed that Stuart Garner has to pay back the money which is 'missing' from the company's employee retirement fund and has been refused permission to appeal against the ruling.
Stuart Garner who took over Norton in 2008 with high hopes that he could take the marque to new heights, was told by the regulator that he had to refund the people in the three retirement funds which he had controlled as trustee. This followed the pension ombudsman's ruling that he had 'acted dishonestly'.
The ombudsman was called in after an investigation when Garner failed to return pension scheme funds to 30 members of the pension scheme when they asked for them. By law funds must be paid back within 6 months of an application.
Things are not looking good for Garner as the sums he has to find are so large that it may be that he is heading for personal bankruptcy.
Garner invested all the members' money into Norton, but the company fell into administration in January. Garner claims he's innocent and that he thinks of himself as a victim and was dealing with fraudsters himself which led to the problems. We shall see what transpires.
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