The founder of a brand unique bank that objectives to lend a hand of us ‘repay their money owed sooner’ allegedly owes a chum £30,000

IAm Monetary institution founder Lee
Travers exhibiting on digital monetary channel
Cheddar.
Cheddar /
screengrab

• A aged optimistic friend of IAm Monetary institution founder Lee Travers claims
  he gave him his life savings to make investments in shares in
  2011.
• The aged optimistic friend says he has been unable to retrieve
  both the shares or the money despite repeated
  makes an try.
• It is no longer the first time Travis has been accused of
  owing of us money — he and a aged business partner are being
  chased for money owed touching on to a previous conducting.
• Travers has now no longer replied to a couple requests for
  comment.

LONDON — The founder of a US startup bank is being pursued
by a aged optimistic friend who claims he is owed £30,000.

Peter Swift, Forty, claims he gave IAm Monetary institution CEO Lee Travers his
life savings to make investments in shares in 2011 while Travers used to be
working in London. Swift requested Travers to transfer the shares
into his title around a Three hundred and sixty five days later nonetheless claims he has still now no longer
received both the shares or the money, despite repeated
requests over five years. The pair did now no longer worth any create of a
contract before the transfers, making it demanding to put in power.

« Once I focal level on I belief someone, I invent now no longer in truth streak for contracts
and stuff love that, » Swift instructed Industry Insider. « I belief
of us — I’m uninteresting love that. »

Peter Swift.
Peter
Swift

Swift, who now lives in Ibiza, equipped emails between himself
and Travers, bank records, and honest letters to make stronger his
claims. Travers did now no longer acknowledge to repeated requests for comment
from BI over a duration of weeks.

Travers would doubtless dispute Swift’s memoir and frequently says
in the email correspondence viewed by Industry Insider that he is
appearing in factual religion. In one email he said the money « shall be
settled in full. » There just isn’t any longer any suggestion of wrongdoing on
Travers’ section.

However the dispute is relevant given Travers is currently looking out to
impart up a digital challenger bank that objectives to lend a hand young of us
combating debt.

Travers is currently understood to be in Chicago surroundings up
digital challenger bank IAm Monetary institution. In a
blog publish promoting the unique conducting printed Will also honest 16,
Travers says IAm Monetary institution could well well lend a hand of us with « paying off their
money owed sooner and constructing their wealth and savings sooner. »

Travers has promoted his
unique conducting widely in the media. He
instructed US
monetary TV channel Cheddar earlier this Three hundred and sixty five days
that IAm Monetary institution will turn out to be the « Apple Store » of
banking. Banking
Expertise reported that the startup has secured
$three million in funding and is focusing on $20 million by
start. 

Industry Insider beforehand reported that
Travers is being pursued over alleged unpaid money owed by aged
contractors and workers who labored for Travers’ closing
company. Swift first obtained interested with Industry Insider in the
wake of this legend.

« We have come to the realisation that we could well honest now no longer ever fetch the
money attend, » Swift said, referring to himself and his wife. « When
your first legend got here out, and I saw he’d been doing exactly the
comparable ingredient to other of us, that used to be the straw that broke the
camel’s attend. »

‘A pointy, spruce guy’

Swift first met Travers thru his brother when Swift moved to
London from the Caribbean in 2010. On the time, Travers used to be
working for an events company with Swift’s brother, nonetheless Travers
quickly moved to a job at monetary system business Monitise.

Travers labored at Monitise between 2011 and 2013 and rose to the
level of executive vice president there, in step with his
LinkedIn profile. Founded in 2003, Monitise used to be one in every of the early
pioneers of Britain’s fintech sector and built apps for banks.
(At one level the public company used to be valued at £1 billion, nonetheless it
equipped for correct £70 million earlier this Three hundred and sixty five days after reporting heavy
losses.)

Swift instructed BI that Travers struck him as « a pointy, spruce guy. »

« He used to be a talented, he regarded love a suave English
businessman, » Swift said. « He talked the focus on. He knew his formula
around town and — I would now no longer boom I used to be in apprehension, nonetheless I used to be having a earn out about
as a lot as him a itsy-bitsy. »

On the inspiration from Australia, Swift had labored in hospitality in the
Caribbean and had by no technique invested in stocks before. He
said he remembers hearing that Travers had « invested $20,000
and made $250,000 moderately like a flash. That used to be the ingredient that obtained me
interested. »

Swift tried to open a procuring and selling memoir himself nonetheless used to be unable to
present the documentation required. He had only lately come to
the nation and used to be in between addresses. Swift and his
female friend had been living with Travers on the time.

As a workaround, he urged to his then female friend, now wife,
that they give their life savings on the time, £30,000, to
Travers to make investments.

« We had a enormous dialogue about it, » Swift instructed BI. « We had heated
discussions about it. We sensed that we relied on him — we had been
living in his house, he used to be about to fetch me a job at Monitise. »

Swift claims Travers agreed to the draw and Swift
transferred the Irishman money in instalments in 2011, according
to transaction records viewed by Industry Insider. Soon after,
Swift started working at Monitise alongside Travers.

‘Alluded or insinuated’

Swift claims he first requested Travers to transfer the shares to an
memoir in his title in 2012 nonetheless used to be instructed this used to be a
advanced route of. Since then, Swift said he has tried
ceaselessly to retrieve both the money or the shares nonetheless
has been unsuccessful. 

« He by no technique in truth said I passe your money to engage shares, » Swift
instructed BI. « He by no technique in truth said the relaxation about what he had performed
with my money. He constantly alluded or insinuated. »

Industry Insider has viewed emails between Swift and Travers that
appear to make stronger Swift’s advise, at the side of one from Travers’
memoir in 2013 that guarantees Swift « the total predominant of your
investment from my own interior most funds on February 1st,
2014. »An
email sent from Travers take care of in 2013, exhibiting to acknowledge
the deal.Screenshot

In his emails, Travers claims an ongoing dispute with Monitise
over his exit from the company in 2013 used to be delaying his capacity
to pay. Around this time, Travers moved to cell fee company
MPayMe as an executive. MPayMe used to be
equipped to Powa Applied sciences in mid-2014 and Travers left
rapidly after.

Swift claims he did no longer receive the relaxation by the February 2014
cut-off date impart out in the email and in the kill employed a solicitor in
2015 to draft a honest letter. The letter, viewed by BI, threatens
action in opposition to Travers. Swift said he has been unable to assist
the letter as Travers had moved take care of.

Swift equipped correspondence with solicitors Simon Burn
supporting his advise. The lawyer he dealt with declined to
comment on the case when contacted by Industry Insider, announcing he
used to be now no longer accredited to focus on.

The ‘Apple Store’ of banking

Travers left Monitise in 2013 and, after his stint at MPayMe,
went on to scurry WeAreBriqs, a fintech business that built apps for
banks. Swift first contacted Industry Insider after we reported
that Travers and his then business partner had been being

chased for alleged money owed of no lower than £a hundred,000 by aged workers and
contractors at WeAreBriqs.

Industry Insider has been unable to succeed in Travers for comment on
this legend. Emails, voicemails, and texts to numbers and
addresses thought to belong to Travers went unanswered.

Industry Insider contacted the click officer for IAm Monetary institution for
comment on this legend nonetheless we had been instructed they now now no longer labored
for the startup. The aged press officer said no person used to be now
handling press for the startup and no different email take care of
is listed on the salvage region. The press officer said they would maybe
contact Travers about BI’s legend nonetheless we heard no response.

IAm Monetary institution’s web region lists an take care of in East London as one in every of the
company’s four world offices. BI visited in early December and
found the take care of used to be occupied by a press kinfolk agency. A
manual for the PR company instructed BI that IAm Monetary institution had now no longer
been on the take care of for « four or five months » and had now no longer left a
forwarding take care of.

A property agent who represents the constructing in question instructed BI
they had no memory of IAm Monetary institution and recalled selling the unit in
question around a Three hundred and sixty five days and a 1/2 previously. The PR company did now no longer
acknowledge to an email asking for clarification.A screenshot from IAm
Monetary institution’s web region.Screenshot/IAm
Monetary institution

Swift’s hope of retrieving his money has dwindled over the
years nonetheless he instructed BI he is reluctant to quit the stagger.

« We would been working as villa managers in the Caribbean. That
£30,000 used to be the savings we had saved while working in the
Caribbean, » he said. « At that 2nd, that used to be our total life
savings. That’s why I save so principal stress on him.

« We all know that after we labored in the Caribbean, we labored so arduous,
it used to be this form of arduous job for us. That’s why I’m still chasing after
five years. Correct to let it streak, it technique all that work we did used to be
for nothing. »