A group of companies that scammed more than £2m from investors have been wound up by the High Court.

The Sentor group of companies, comprising Sentor Solutions Commercial, Fabcourt Developments, Sentor Solutions Advisory and Sentor Solutions, have now been shut down by the Insolvency Service.

The latter two companies also changed their names and most recently traded as Hall Contracting Services and Clarkson Murphy Partners, respectively.

Promotional material provided by Fabcourt Developments to investors stated that Sentor Solutions Commercial and Clarkson Murphy Partners were the security trustee for the investment scheme, which promised fixed rate investment products known as “convertible loan notes”, with high monthly or quarterly interest rates for a duration of two to three years.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Fabcourt Developments was in fact the successor to Sampson Property Developments, previously known as Texmoore Limited, which had operated the same scam until it entered into compulsory liquidation in March this year following a creditors petition.

Between them, the companies took over £2m from investors, as well as a further $500,000. The Insolvency Service stated that both Clarkson Murphy Partners and Hall Contracting Services had also been said to be security trustees for the Sampson Property Developments scam.

Furthermore, the companies also told investors that the loan notes were “government-backed”, and even that their investments were covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which would have entitled them to compensation if the investment failed.

The Insolvency Service investigation into the companies established that the Sampson Property Developments and Fabcourt Developments schemes were part of an investment fraud collectively operated by the companies.

“It is undeniably in the public interest for these companies to be prevented from continuing to trade, which will enable the official receiver to carry out further investigations into the activities of the companies to establish the extent of its liabilities, the position as regards any assets, the whereabouts and conduct of the directors and any other culpable parties,” said the chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, Edna Okhiria.

“These companies operated a fraudulent scheme whereby they mislead the public, falsely claiming that the Texmoore and Fabcourt investment schemes were regulated to provide the veneer that funds invested were protected when in fact they were not. These claims induced investors to invest substantial sums. The companies then failed to make more than a few monthly interest payments, leaving investors substantially out of pocket.”

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