Highland Titles - Peter Bevis Caught Lying About Conservtion Work

Back in the day, Highland Titles MD Peter Bevis would from time to time weigh in personally to defend his dodgy enterprise. Nowadays these efforts are continued by the ‘anonymous’ site highlandtitlesscam.com, which affords a fig leaf of deniability if things are said that shouldn’t have been.

We are grateful to a reader who turned up the following on archive.org. Even if Peter Bevis had not published the blog in his own name (scroll to the end of the blog - Posted 17th August 2012 by Peter Bevis), the superior, patronising, unpleasant tone is quite unmistakable to connoisseurs.

An archive of the blog can be seen HERE, and there is a pdf file copy HERE.

There are a number of aspects of this piece that perhaps merit comment, but for the moment we’ll focus on just one.

We were impressed that in a relatively short blog the word ‘lie’ or ‘lying’ is used no less than 14 times (count them) in dismissing the concerns raised by Robin Cunninghame Graham. Could there perhaps be some message the author is trying to get across? (Other than that the author is hell-bent on fuelling a defamation suit.)

This typically pungent paragraph caught our eye: “Another naughty lie, Robin. … They [our customers] see for themselves the 10,000 trees that we planted last year and the thousands of trees planted in previous years. … You can tell lies on your web site. Everyone who reads your lies and subsequently visits Keil Hill will immediately have proof of your lies.”

Just to let us know that wasn’t a typo, Peter Bevis repeats essentially the same claim in different wording further on: “What you meant to write was “I have absolutely no idea about the 10,000 trees planted at Keil Hill last winter because I live in Spain. …””

Note, The article was posted 17th August 2012.

Which creates a problem, since in their 5 Year Plan published in 2014, Highland Titles wrote of 5,000 trees planted over the first 5 years.

This year, according to Highland Titles' local representative Stewart Borland, the figure has reached around 8,000 trees.

This figure of around 8000 trees planted is confirmed on a Highland Titles Facebook post from 17 September 2015. Archived HERE



All very commendable, except it means Bevis’s rebuttal of Cunninghame Graham’s concerns in 2012 was a perfectly shameless lie. After 8 years at Keil Hill, Highland Titles’ plantings haven’t totalled the number Bevis claimed were planted just in winter 2011/12. From Highland Titles’ own later figures, the actual rate of planting over the first 5 years was on average 1,000 trees/year. Bevis inflated this by a factor of 10, likely reasoning that no one was in a position to count the plantings and contradict him. At that time Bevis was in all likelihood making more money from his EHIC operation than from Highland Titles and didn’t give much thought to how his lie would hold up in the future.

This should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone tempted to take the word of Peter Bevis seriously. Sadly we know from past experience that it won’t – his advocates will continue to find excuses for him or otherwise turn a blind eye.





More Highland Titles Fake Sock Puppet Support

In our last post we found that a sock puppet had used the name of famous author Val McDermid to post nice comments about Highland Titles, when in the opinion of the real Val McDermid they are "charlatans and scammers", a view we fully support.

Now on the pro Highland Titles website highlandtitlesscam.com (does anyone actually really believe HT are not in control of this website?), we find another sock puppet posting flattering comments in support of Highland Titles, while pretending to be "Nature of Scotland Awards". This is an award scheme run by the Royal Society For The Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The page with the comment is archived here - https://archive.is/rp9x1#selection-1691.0-1723.123

The Fake Sock Puppet Comment

When asked on Twitter, the RSPB who run the awards scheme immediately confirmed that they did not post that comment.

RSPB  Twitter Question And Answer

That makes two recent comments showing support for Highland Titles, positively confirmed as being fakes made by sock puppets. One might wonder how many of the other nice comments about Highland Titles plastered all over the internet, are in fact also fakes?

There are other suspicious comments, who for instance would believe that the National Trust would take the time to post a comment (June 21, 2015 at 12:45 am) on that same page giving mountaineering advice? That really does not seem very likely does it?

Or the coincidence that someone calling themselves Chas Mac Donald would post such nice comments when there is also a Chas MacDonald, owner of the Clan MacDonald Worldwide Facebook page who has criticised Highland Titles heavily on several occasions.

Or that someone calling themselves Amanda would post scathing, possibly libelous comments, about Rob Gibson MSP, when there is an Amanda Moffet of Scotclans who is a known fierce critic of Highland Titles? Rob Gibson has noted his dislike of schemes like that run by Highland Titles, and Highland Titles have used a fake newspaper article using fake quotations from Mr Gibson to falsely bolster their image.

There are comments supporting Highland Titles which have been made using sock puppets, that is proven, and there are many other highly suspicious favorable comments.

Did Highland Titles post any of them? In my own opinion, taking into account my knowledge of how they operate and their past behaviour, there is little doubt, but as there obviously cannot be absolute proof, you'll have to make up your own mind.

Highland Titles An Opinion By Val McDermid Famous Scottish Crime Writer

Earlier in October, a puff piece appeared on a website lovemoney.com extolling the virtues of Highland Titles. Reading it and seeing the style of the guff and nonsense presented, you'd be forgiven for thinking Highland Titles might have written it themselves. Of course being 'editorial content', the misleading bits, and they are many, are outside of the Advertising Standards Authority remit.

Anyway, one of the comments on that piece praising the HT conservation effort to the gods was supposedly posted by a Val McDermid, an extremely uncommon name. Who is Val McDermid? She is a very well know Scottish author, famous for her crime works. The trouble is, it wasn't actually Val who posted the comment.

The Comment

Stevie G pointed the comment out to the real Val McDermid on twitter. Val immediately identified the comment author as a sock puppet, https://twitter.com/valmcdermid/status/656081402639839232

Val Identifies Comment Author As a Sock Puppet

Stevie G then asked Val via twitter if she was promoting Highland Titles or not. As we can see below, she's didn't mince her words!

Val McDermid Gives Her Opinion On Highland Titles

Val's Twitter post archived here for posterity http://archive.is/fK33J

So in the words of Val McDermid, one of the biggest names in crime writing, in her opinion Highland Titles are, "Charlatans and scammers". We agree wholeheartedly Val. Oh Val, should Highland Titles threaten any legal action, we have a boat load of very solid evidence which would certainly more than adequately back up your statement.

Some people may be inclined towards an opinion that Highland Titles might possibly have posted that comment (or indeed several comments) themselves. Our legal advice is that it might not be advisable to say that without 'no reasonable doubt' evidence, so we'll leave it at that. What we do know and are entirely happy to say, is that Highland Titles have used fake newspaper articles in their marketing materials in the past, with fake quotations from Rob Gibson MSP.

We'd advise that taking much notice of comments made by a sock puppet using the name of a well known figure, might not be the best idea ever. We'd also advise taking glowing comments made about Highland Titles in such places with a serious amount of skepticism about both their origin and accuracy.

Highland Titles Continue Misleading Advertising After ASA Ruling

Back in July 22nd this year Highland Titles were found by the Advertising Standards Authority to be misleading consumers by advertising land for sale in Glencoe, when the plots are not actually in Glencoe but some miles away on Keil Hill in Duror, with no connection to Glencoe at all.

So after the July ruling , they'll have stopped running the adverts then? Well in true Highland Titles tradition of sticking two finger up at the ASA, sadly no.

We archived this Google search result advert on 10 September 2015, which read "Buy a Piece of Glencoe - highlandtitles.com‎".

Google search advert from 10 September 2015

We were reminded of this when recently looking through the Glencoe Community Council meeting minutes where we find a local resident informed the Glencoe Community Council that Highland Titles were continuing to run these misleading adverts well after the ASA ruling.

http://s3.spanglefish.com/s/7906/documents/council%20minutes%202015/2015-08(aug)minutes.pdf

"The CC received an email from a resident relating to the BBC news item ‘Buy land in Glencoe adverts confusing, says ASA’. The resident complained that the ‘Glencoe’ advertising that the ASA had ruled misleading had only been withdrawn from the UK and was still running in other countries."

Why didn't we report this to the ASA then? No point. As mentioned by the resident, the adverts were withdrawn from the UK, but continued to be displayed in other countries. The ASA have no remit to do anything about non UK targeted advertising, so they can do nothing about it, even though they have already judged the adverts misleading.

So in order to comply with the ASA ruling, Highland Titles merely withdrew the misleading adverts from UK consumers, but continued to run them in foreign markets, secure in the knowledge that the ASA are powerless to do anything about it.

The BBC ran a story on the ASA ruling at the time and reported that "Highland Titles Ltd said it had not intended to mislead customers". Their continued use of the advert targeting overseas customers seems to contradict that. If continuing to run these adverts isn't clearly an intention to mislead, perhaps Highland Titles would care to comment on what the intention actually is?

Would a reputable organisation with any moral standards continue to run adverts they know are misleading, and have been independently judged to be misleading to anybody at all?
,
We don't think so either, but that's the traditional Highland Titles way of conning people out of their money.

One wonders what other guff and nonsense Highlamd Titles might be serving up to overseas consumers knowing that there is little that can realistically be done about it. Honesty and integrity were never Highland Titles strong points.

Highland Titles Scam And The Wildcat Haven Connection

Recently Andy Wightman highlighted a connection between Highland Titles and a community interest company Wildcat Haven, who we are informed have some kind of Scottish wildcat preservation scheme going. Andy was less than impressed with Wildcat Haven.

You can read Andy's blog post here - http://www.andywightman.com/archives/4328

It appears that Highland Titles have donated land to Wildcat Haven which they are selling square foot plots of to raise funds. It also transpires that Douglas Wilson a director of Highland Titles, is also a director of Wildcat Haven Enterprises C.I.C with a 50% share in the company. Where have we come across Douglas Wilson before apart from Highland Titles? That's right, he was implicated in the somewhat ethically questionable website applyehic.org (now defunct), a website which charged "form checking" fees for otherwise free European Heath Insurance Cards.

You can read about Douglas Wilson's involvement in applyehic.org here - https://theanatomyofascam.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/applyehic-org/

We won't cover the story in any detail as Andy has already done that, and we're a bit short of time. What does concern us is that Andy asked Wildcat Haven the question of how much money from the plot sales goes to the cause, to which as far as I am aware he has not received an answer. On the Wildcat Haven website there is no indication of this either.

It is a worry therefore that like Highland Titles, only a tiny fraction of gross funds raised might actually go towards the cause. The direct involvement of Douglas Wilson in the company only serves to raise our concerns on this issue even more. Wildcat Haven is not a charity but a community interest company, and as such, lacks transparency when it comes to finding out where the money goes.

In an article we wrote in December last year, we found that according to Highland Titles own figures, at that time only around £1 in every £30 received was being applied to their apparent conservation efforts. We currently have no reason to believe that Wildcat Haven are any different. Their silence on the matter and close association with Highland Titles is not helping us to think differently.

It is interesting that Highland Titles have had a close association with Wildcat Haven for some time, to the point of now having a shared director. They are therefore surely very aware it is not a charity, yet back in June on their Facebook page, described it as exactly that.

From the Highland Titles Facebook page 20th June 2015, "Highland Titles are proud to have The Wildcat Haven as one of the key charities we support financially"

Archived 7 Oct 2015 20:51:19 UTC - https://archive.is/uEpz0

Oh dear Highland Titles, don't you think describing an organization as a charity which you know perfectly well is not a charity is just a little bit naughty?

Highland Titles Feature in Edinburgh Law Review Scottish Souvenir Plot Article

The latest issue of the Edinburgh Law Review, volume 19, was published earlier this month, it contains an article on souvenir plot ownership in Scotland, with a section dedicated to Highland Titles. Unfortunately we can't publish the article as it is copyright material, but we can, comment on it. The first few paragraphs can be seen here, http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/elr.2015.0301

The article begins by explaining that in England and Wales, under the Land Registration and Land Charges Act 1971, the Chief Land Registrar could declare areas of land in England and Wales subject of a “souvenir land scheme". Under this scheme transfer of a souvenir plot was exempted from the normal registration requirement. Under the 1971 Act, a souvenir plot (in England & Wales) was defined as:

any piece of land which, being of inconsiderable size and little or no practical utility, is unlikely to be wanted in isolation except for the sake of pure ownership or for sentimental reasons or commemorative purpose

In England,  the Land Registration Act 2002 Schedule 13 brought souvenir plots into the land registration system by repealing the 1971 Act. Ownership of souvenir plots can now only be transferred through registration. Non of which applies in Scotland.

The situation in Scotland was (and still is) entirely different. In Scotland, in the shadow of the 1971 England & Wales act, section 4(2)(b) of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 specifically prohibits the registration souvenir plots, but unlike the England & Wales act, provides no “souvenir land scheme", and no exemption from registration to allow transfer of ownership.

The 1979 Scottish act has since been superseded by the Land Registration Act (Scotland) Act 2012. At the time this was under discussion it was considered whether to continue to prohibit the registration and therefore ownership of souvenir plots. It was decided to continue with this prohibition.

In Scotland it is not possible to register souvenir plots, registration is specifically and deliberately prohibited. In Scotland in order to become the owner of land, it must be registered, no exceptions.

The conclusion given in the article sums up the current position perfectly, it reads in part:

"One thing that is not unpredictable is the law surrounding souvenir plots, settled as it is by the recent implementation of the 2012 Act and the fact that current land reform proposals of the Scottish Government contain nothing on souvenir plots. There was no need to have recourse to Twitter to demonstrate these settled rules, but social media and the blogosphere certainly provided an ideal forum for them to be articulated to a surprisingly wide and interested audience. That audience now knows that sellers of souvenir plots are not providing their customers with ownership of land" ¹.

Professional con artists like Highland Titles, and other similar disreputable companies who profit from deception, try to fool customers into believing that they become the real owner of souvenir plots in Scotland, and will lie, obfuscate, and confuse, in order to persuade them this is so, in order to get them to part with their money under false pretences.

We've said it before and we'll say it again. If you paid money for a souvenir land plot in Scotland and were led to believe you would become the owner of that plot by the seller, you have been conned, demand your money back and kick up a fuss.

Oh, and you can forget about any promised Lairdship or any other title which is suggested might come your way by owning land, that's just another lie. Even if  there was something to it (which there isn't), you can't own the land anyway!

The Edinburgh Law Review article was authored by:

Malcolm Combe, Lecturer at University of Aberdeen School of Law, and an adviser to the Land Reform Review Group. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/law/people/profiles/m.m.combe

Dr Jill Robbie, Lecturer in Private Law, University of Glasgow School of Law., with a research interest in property law. http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/staff/jillrobbie/

¹ Edinburgh Law Review Vol 19 September 2015, A Square Foot of Old Scotland: Ownership of Souvenir Plots, Jill Robbie and Malcolm Combe University of Glasgow and University of Aberdeen. Published by Edinburgh University Press.

Highland Titles Scam In Buy a Plot in Glencoe Shocker. ASA Rules Adverts Misleading Again!

 Highland Titles are once again in trouble with regulators. This time with the Advertising Standards Authority in another formal ruling found against them. Even more proof that some of their advertising is considerably less than truthful, and definitely not acceptable.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2015/7/Highland-Titles-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_302918.aspx#.Va7bZ6PLcTk

This will come as no surprise at all to those who know the devious conning ways of the people behind Highland Titles.

What have they been up to now? Well, they have been advertising via multiple search engine paid for adverts that consumers can "Buy A Plot in Glencoe" from them, which is entirely untrue, and very very naughty. The plots they sell contracts of rights to (not real ownership), are located in Duror, not anywhere which could remotely be described as "in Glencoe".

In their ruling the ASA wrote:

"Two sponsored search engine results for Highland Titles Ltd:
a. A Yahoo result stated "Buy A Plot in Glencoe - Help Conserve Scottish Landscape".
b. A Dogpile result stated "Buy A Plot in Glencoe - Surprise & Impress Your Friends"."

Unfortunately that was just the tip of the iceberg, we have been observing these adverts in multiple paid for search adverts for some time, for example .....

Google - 20/02/2015 - "Buy A Plot in Glencoe - Surprise & Impress Your Friends"

Bing - 31/05/2015 - "Buy A Plot in Glencoe - Help Conserve Scottish Landscape"

 

 Ask Jeeves - 21/02/2015 - "Buy a Piece of Glencoe - Surprise & Impress Your Friends"

 

Duckduckgo - 16/05/2015 - "Buy a Piece of Glencoe"

There are more but you get the idea, this is a matter of routine across multiple search engine adverts for Highland Titles.

The BBC ran an article on the affair in which we learn of the Highland Titles excuse. They claimed "The advert in question said 'buy a plot of land in Glencoe' simply because 'buy a plot of land in Glencoe Wood' exceeds the character limit.

This excuse is wonderfully transparent nonsense, one advert read in full "Buy A Plot in Glencoe - Help Conserve Scottish Landscape", clearly 'buy a plot of land in Glencoe Wood' is less characters than that! They simply lied to the BBC reporter. Anyway, if character numbers are an issue, Duror where the land is, is shorter than Glencoe where the land is not!

As is apparent from the ASA ruling, this is not the first time this same issue has been brought to their attention. It seems they were reported doing precisely the same thing some time ago. An earlier complaint was seemingly dealt with informally, but after agreeing to amend the adverts Highland Titles appear to have merely stuck two fingers up at the ASA, and carried on running identical adverts regardless.

This is all even more laughable when you consider that after the storm on Twitter when several real lawyers pointed out that Highland Titles' customers will not actually own the land, Highland Titles responded to that criticism and wrote, quote, "Would a scam operation work successfully with the Advertising Standards Authority to ensure its marketing copy complied with the ASA Code of Practice?"

If Highland Titles have been working with the ASA, it is now hilariously clear the operation has been much less than the success they claim. In fact after making an undertaking to the ASA not to run these adverts unchanged, they simply broke their own undertaking, and continued to run adverts they had already essentially acknowledged were misleading.

A couple of years back, we published a piece explaining why the HT product was thoroughly misleading: the title was meaningless, the land sale was meaningless, and the new Laird of Glencoe's land wasn't in Glencoe. HT hit back hard against our 'lies'. Quite amazingly, due to HT's persistence, each one of these points has now gone before a regulator and in each instance they have found against HT. The ASA ruled last year here that it was misleading to suggest buyers got a title, IPSO ruled earlier this year here in favour of the Daily Record that it was fair to say the land sales were meaningless and buyers got 'nothing', and now the ASA has ruled against the misleading use of 'Glencoe' to sell land in Duror.

Highland Titles bought a commercial forestry plantation with land in Duror, then called a bit of it Glencoe Wood, and labeled themselves Glencoe Estates. They said you would become a Laird of Glencoe, and to top it off invited people to "Buy A Plot IN Glencoe" via multiple adverts. Highland Titles have little connection to Glencoe, their land is in Duror. Calling yourself Laird (or Lord or Lady) of Glencoe by way of buying a contract of rights to a souvenir plot of land in Duror is simply preposterous, and would be entirely inappropriate anyway even if the land was actually in Glencoe, and buyers really owned it. It isn't and they don't.

Highland Titles have an ever growing list of informally resolved complaints made against them, and formally investigated complaints which have been upheld by the ASA. Not the signs one would expect to see of a reasonably reputable company, more the signs of the professional con artists and scam merchants we know the people behind Highland Titles actually are.

When a company continues to run adverts which they have already been made aware could be considered misleading, then break an undertaking to the ASA not to run these adverts again, and fibs about the reason behind it to a BBC reporter, what chance do you think there is that many of the claims made about the value of their conservation work or anything else, might also not be entirely truthful, but a mishmash of half truths, misdirection, guff, and outright lies?

It is well documented that members of the Bevis family who control Highland Titles have been involved in running scams. They harass and bully critics, and their tax arrangements are a somewhat colourful affair with companies linked to them in the Seychelles and a PO Box address in the British Virgin Islands. They also it seems agree to amend their advertising then don't bother, but carry on as usual knowing it is unlikely there will be any real consequences even if they are found out. The only "punishment" the ASA can administer is to publish their findings and that's about it.

So Highland Titles, keen to demonstrate how willing they are to comply with regulators and cease to mislead customers will have stopped indicating anywhere that their plots are in Glencoe then won't they? Sadly, but not surprisingly, they have not.

When customers go to the "buy your plot" page on the Highland Titles website, one on the choices for the location of your plot is "Glencoe"

 

Doing a search on Google for "buy plot glencoe" returns a result, though not a sponsored advert, the small print text of which reads " Find out what's in included in our gift pack, 1 sqft Glencoe".

More worryingly perhaps, is the fact that the Guernsey authorities seem prepared to allow the same people to be directors of a Guernsey registered charity which is not required to publish any public accounts, despite their demonstrably dishonest business practices, and ever increasing disreputable reputation.

Highland Titles Enemy Within Shock - Revealed In Daily Record IPSO Complaint

Suspicions about Highland Titles director Douglas Wilson, the son-in-law of Highland Titles MD Peter Bevis, were first aroused after he put his name to an incriminating public testimonial on behalf of EHIC scam operation applyehic.org, linking Highland Titles to an operation that they really, really didn’t want the world to know about.

These suspicions were confirmed last week when it was learned he was responsible for a simply disastrous ruling against Highland Titles from the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

Highland Titles had been offered an apology over some matters of detail in a Daily Record piece “Revealed: Highland laird wannabes fooled into thinking they have bought Scottish land in multi-million-pound global scheme”. Not content with this, Wilson took his grievances to IPSO in the hope of having the Record brought to book.

IPSO has recently published their ruling – that not even the apology originally offered is necessary!

It is hard to conceive how the ruling could possibly have shown Highland Titles in a worse light.

The ruling finds to be fair comment the Record’s assertion that buyers were “fooled” over the land sales and got “nothing”. (Highland Titles countered that buyers got a gift set, but in the context of an article about the land sales that was deemed to be somewhat beside the point.)

It includes a statement that Highland Titles does not dispute that "Scotland does not recognise a personal right of ownership”. This must have been a very painful admission since Douglas Wilson at around this time justified Highland Titles’ land sales in his lengthy and considered “Response to criticism on Twitter” thus: “The advice of our Scottish solicitors is that our customers obtain a personal right to their souvenir plot of land".  Since the Twitter debate, they have reiterated their confidence in their advice. The "personal right" was also the basis of Highland Titles' defense to the ASA of their "buy land" and "landowner" marketing. In pursuing this unsuccessful IPSO action, Highland Titles appear to have exploded their own argument to the ASA.

The ruling reveals that Highland Titles complained to IPSO that the Daily Record had been inaccurate in describing the Highland Titles Charitable Trust as running Highland Titles. The notion that the Record was inaccurate is directly contradicted by Bevis writing around this time: “Company law requires that the Company [Highland Titles] must operate for the benefit of the shareholders, the charity that owns them, and the charity is in control.” THE CHARITY IS IN CONTROL. So was it not then a wee bit dishonest to tell IPSO that the Trust could not be described as running Highland Titles?

 
Delightfully, Highland Titles appear to have been caught red-handed in their classic response to criticism of changing their website and then indignantly complaining they have been misrepresented: Highland Titles complained that the Record had misrepresented how they described their land sales. The text on Highland Titles’ website appears to support this charge, but the Record was able to provide evidence that between the article being published and Highland Titles complaining they had been misrepresented, the relevant text on Highland Titles' website had changed. We've been here many times ourselves but our screenshots are claimed to be photoshopped fakes (a claim aimed at the hard of thinking... obviously if we’d really posted photoshopped fakes to discredit Highland Titles, we’d have been dealing with their lawyers). This time they really have come unstuck.

What can we say? Sterling work Douglas, keep it up. Our payment’s in a brown envelope in the usual place ;-)

Others have also commented on this affair, notably:

Giles Peaker on his Nearly Legal blog - http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2015/06/assorted/

Long time campaigner Robin Cunninghame Graham on the Fake Scots Titles website - seen HERE

The Highland Titles Jubilee Wood Tree Planting Deception

Back in 2012, Highland Titles announced they were going to be part of the official Woodland Trust Diamond Jubilee Woods project, until it was exposed that they were not, and in fact the Woodland Trust had refused their application to take part. The project then turned into the plain Highland Titles Diamond Jubilee Wood project to save face.

The plan was announced  in May 2012 HERE

"Highland Titles will plant 60 acres of Scottish broadleaf trees in the Scottish Highlands this year, .......... They recently announced their flagship conservation effort of planting 60 acres of broadleaf trees to celebrate 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II."

Since then, Highland Titles have stated in several places that all 60 acres which were to be planted for that project, had in fact been planted in 2012.

For example on their Facebook about page (archived 07 March 2015) HERE

"During 2012 we have planted 60 acres of broadleaf trees in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee"

And again on a Youtube account (archived 22 March 2015) HERE

"During 2012, we have planted 60 acres of broadleaf trees in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee"

And again (archived 22 March 2015) HERE

 "During 2012, we have planted 60 acres of broadleaf trees in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee"

By now I think most reasonable people would have formed an opinion that Highland Titles had actually fully planted all 60 acres with trees in 2012.

That might be a good thing were it not for one inconvenient fact, they haven't actually done it, They may have planted some trees for the project, but only a fraction of the 60 acres.

This blogger, went to look for them in 2013, but failed to find much evidence of them, only seeing a fraction of the 60 acres actually planted.

They even admit it is not fully planted on their own website, possibly they had forgotten where they claimed to have already planted the whole thing, and neglected to remove the above references.

From the Highland Titles website 1 Mar 2015 HERE

"The Diamond Jubilee Wood is a 60 acre project that will eventually contain approximately 30,000 trees"

This isn't a little bit of exaggeration, it is fabrication of conservation work done.

The people behind Highland Titles have made a career out of deception, I think it fair to say they can legitimately be considered professional con artists, and have ammassed a fortune by their various deceptive schemes.

Their Telephone Preference Register website telephonepreference.org.uk worked by deception.

Their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) website applyehic.org worked by deception.

Highland Titles told the world that they bought the Keil Hill estate so that it could never be developed, but told buyers of large plots that planning permission might be possible in the future, more deception.

Even the construction of a cycle track over Keil Hill was a deception.

Highland Titles was built on the deception that buyers would own a plot of land and by that ownership gain the right to a Laird, Lord, or Lady title. Non of which is actually true, it's a deception.

The list goes on and on and on ........

Unfortunately their conservation work suffers from the same problem, claims of work actually done are not necessarily true, but liable to be more deception. "Have planted" might actually mean "have started to plant", not the same thing at all.

Highland Titles Peter Bevis And The EHIC applyehic.org Connection

A new blog has appeared recently, the author, darthula, doesn't seem very keen on the Highland Titles con artists. The first and currently only post (I hope there will be more of the same standard to come), claims that Peter Bevis of Highland Titles was behind one of the most prolific European Health Insurance Card scams of all time, namely, the now defunct applyehic.org website.

I had myself strongly suspected a Bevis / EHIC card connection for some time, but had never really managed to piece enough evidence together to make it stick with absolute confidence. The new blog is a tremendous piece of sleuthing, thoroughly researched, and the evidence presented is very strong indeed.

The piece doesn't confine the story to the EHIC card scam, but touches on other aspects of the Bevis / Highland Titles nasty behavior. There is evidence of vindictive attacks on critics of their schemes, a company (Uccle Ltd) in the Seychelles tax haven, fabrication of conservation work done, and more.

https://theanatomyofascam.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/applyehic-org

Highland Titles Response to Twitter - Lies Guff And Misdirection

During the Twitter storm which shredded any notion that Highland Titles' customers actually own the land they now appear to have some kind of unclear "personal rights" to, Highland Titles produced a response to the Twitter critics.

I'm not currently going through he whole thing, it's riddled with guff, crap and nonsense, life is to short! Instead I'll just illustrate with one claim made how utterly dishonest Highland Titles really are. A lot on their Twitter response is in similar vein.

This is one claim made ....

"It was embarrassing to see an old Google advert of ours that mentioned “noble titles”.  Our website has never advertised noble titles"

They might even have got away with that, but fortunately there is a web service which automatically captures screen shots of websites, and there are several from Highland Titles owned website lochaberhighlandestates.com.

The screen capture from that website dated 05/05/2009 says quite clearly  "For as little as £29.99 you can buy a noble title". See it for yourself here

  

But wait, there's more. They admit to advertising that they claimed to sell noble titles in Google adverts, but seem to  have neglected to mention some more places that still make the claim even today.

The Lochaber Highland Estates Youtube account about page, 19 Feb 2015 here

Oh look, and here on their Tradekey listing 25 Feb 2015 here

 

Oops, and again on their Hotfrog listing  27 Feb 2015  here

lochaber Highland Estates is what Highland Titles used to call themselves. It is the same company, they just changed the name and still operate under that name.

When Highland Titles wrote, "Our website has never advertised noble titles", as seen above, that is just a barefaced lie.

When Highland Titles wrote, "It was embarrassing to see an old Google advert of ours that mentioned “noble titles”, that may well be true, but as above, they were also advertising noble titles for sale as a matter of routine in many places other than Google, including their own website.

That is the Highland Titles way, their typical mode of operation. Make untrue claims till caught out, then remove the evidence and say they never made those claims.

This time they haven't got away with it, the evidence is still there. The links above are to archived copies of the material. These are true reflections of the websites as they were at the date the archive was taken. As they are not under the control of Highland Titles, this time they can't quite so easily just change the evidence to suit.

I don't currently intend to examine the entire Highland Titles response to Twitter, it is nothing more than a web of lies deceit and misdirection, intended to fool the gullible. As seen above, just taking one point and examining it reveals the truth. What reputable company would even try to get away with that kind of  garbage?

There is a more detailed examination of the Highland Titles response to Twitter over at the scots-titles.com website, which covers it in a bit more detail, you might want to have a read.

Highland Titles And The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs Convenor

It seems the convener of The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, Sir Malcolm MacGregor, is not a Highland Titles fan either. He recently made a statement on the Bletherskite website in which he outlines his opinion of Highland Titles. It appears they do not impress him at all.

http://www.bletherskite.net/2015/02/13/highland-titles-twitter-battle-with-scottish-lawyers-result-home-win/#comment-115443

This is what he has to say.

"The lawyers have clarified that purchasing a souvenir plot of land in Scotland does not mean the purchaser owns the plot. It is still owned, in this case, by Highland Titles. The lawyers have also confirmed that purchasers of souvenir plots are emphatically not landowners.

Separately, though connected, the titles aspect of this saga also lacks authenticity.

First, only the Lyon Court can confer genuine titles in Scotland. No one else, and certainly not Highland Titles.

Second, there can only be one laird or title per geographical location. Highland Titles uses Glencoe. The genuine laird, or chieftain, MacIain of Glencoe (Clan Donald), was murdered on this day in 1692, the day of the infamous massacre. The title belongs to him and his descendants, and no one else. To suggest, as Highland Titles does, that there can be thousands of lairds or Lords of Glencoe is false.

Third, the actual place from which the title ‘of Glencoe’ is taken is in fact woodland at Duror, 10 miles away and has nothing to do with Glencoe geographically.

Fourth, the title of ‘laird’ or indeed Lord/Lady is not, and never has been, associated with a souvenir plot of land. Neither Lyon Court nor anyone else would recognise such a claim in respect of souvenir plots. Lyon has said as much in correspondence.

Highland Titles tend to work overseas where there is less knowledge of these matters. They rarely, if ever, operate in Scotland where they would be laughed out of court. Which is exactly what has has happened.

Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor
Convenor
Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs"

If you paid money to Highland Titles and believed you became owner of a plot of land or gained the right to any titles with your purchase, you did not. Please make a fuss about it and demand your money back, they don't deserve to have it.

Do You Own Your Highland Titles Land Plot? No .... Again

Another blog giving well informed opinion that the buyers of land plots from Highland Titles do not own them in any meaningful sense. This time by Paul Cruikshank a Law and Politics Graduate from Glasgow University @PAShanky

https://pashanky.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/highland-lack-of-titles/

"As we’ve said, the right of ownership is a real right. A contract can only give the right to ownership – a personal right of ownership does not exist under Scots Law. This has been confirmed in court [Burnett’s Trustees v Grainger being the leading authority on the matter]. Even if it did, what good would it do? If a personal right can only be enforced in relation to a certain group of people, how can this really be called ownership?"

"If I have a personal right of ownership against Highland Titles (which is the most I can possibly have under a contract of sale), what happens if someone else tries to move in on my square foot?  I don’t have any rights in relation to them – I’m not the ‘real’ owner. I’d be screwed."

"So what are Highland Titles actually selling? It’s fair to conclude that Highland Titles aren’t selling land. They can’t be selling a “personal right to ownership” in a square foot of Highland ground, because such a right does not exist. There can only be a ‘real right’ of ownership and they’re selling me a title which cannot be registered in the Land Register, and (as I hope is clear by now) what the Land Register says goes – so I can never get the “real right of ownership”. At most, Highland Titles are selling a right to potentially sue them for £30 at some point in the future."

Further Informed reading on the same subject

 http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2015/02/naughty-step-low-road-edition/

http://www.scotslawblog.com/scots-law/scots-property-law-souvenir-plot-ownership-social-media-best/

https://basedrones.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/highland-titles-scam/

http://www.andywightman.com/archives/4152

https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/what-is-the-difference-between-real-rights-and-personal-rights-an-introduction-for-non-lawyers/

https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/i-cant-believe-its-not-ownership-or-the-curious-tale-of-highland-titles-selling/

https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/some-frequently-asked-questions-on-ownership-of-land-in-scotland-and-souvenir-plots/

https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/more-on-highland-titles-can-you-be-a-laird/

Council Of Scottish Clans And Associations Are Not Highland Titles Fans Either

The USA Council Of Scottish Clans And Associations have also recently made their feelings on Highland Titles quite clear, I don't think they are very impressed.

https://www.cosca.scot/02/highland-titles-hopefully-gone-and-soon-forgotten/

"Highland Titles: Built On Deception & Stolen Heritage Hopefully Soon Gone And Easily Forgotten"

"The entire scheme of selling wee plots of ground in Scotland to buyers who then entitle themselves with really offensive monikers such as Laird and Lady of Glencoe has been found to be faulty and open to unraveling."

"The people selling the wee plots (1′ x 1′ – you get the picture) are very simply con men, and not the particularly affable lovable types either."

Highland Titles Scam In The Daily Record

The Daily Record picked up on the recent Twitter storm and ran their own story, which is available online.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/revealed-highland-laird-wannabes-fooled-5201846

The Record calls it a "scheme" but there is little doubt about their opinion of the reality of Highland Titles' "plot sales".

"But thousands of people taken in by the scheme have actually bought nothing, the Record can reveal."

"Top property lawyers and the government agency responsible for keeping a record of land ownership have flatly denied that any land changes hands in the so-called “souvenir plot” deals."

I hardly think Highland Titles will be adding that to their press cuttings links!

Highland Titles Scam Exposed On Twitter By Real Lawyers

If you missed it, over the last couple of weeks there has been a Twitter storm where real lawyers and legal scholars challenged the claims made by Highland Titles. The main points of contention were whether or not buyers of Highland Titles souvenir land plots actually owned them, and whether or not buyers gained a title.

In the unanimous opinion of the lawyers and legal scholars, buyers do not own the souvenir plots sold by Highland Titles, nor do they gain any titles.

There is little point in me explaining the arguments as several others have already done so. I'll provide links to articles written by the lawyers and scholars involved and let them explain in their own words.

The unfolding Twitter events as related on The Scots Law Blog:
http://www.scotslawblog.com/scots-law/scots-property-law-souvenir-plot-ownership-social-media-best/

The unfolding Twitter argument as told by @MalcolmCombe. Malcolm Combe is a lecturer in law at the University of Aberdeen and adviser to the Land Reform Review Group.
https://storify.com/MalcolmCombe/buy-land-in-scotland-style-yourself-as-lord-or-lad

Article on the realities of land ownership in Scotland by @NearlyLegal - Giles Peaker is a solicitor and partner in the Housing and Public Law team at Anthony Gold Solicitors.
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2015/02/naughty-step-low-road-edition/

Article on the realities of land ownership in Scotland by Scottish lawyer @loveandgarbage.
https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/i-cant-believe-its-not-ownership-or-the-curious-tale-of-highland-titles-selling/

Article describing why you won't be a Laird by buying a land plot from Highland Titles by Scottish lawyer @loveandgarbage
https://loveandgarbage.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/i-cant-believe-its-not-ownership-or-the-curious-tale-of-highland-titles-selling/

Highland Titles land sales demolished on Twitter as ‘legal bollocks’ on Commonspace.
https://commonspace.scot/articles/314/highland-titles-land-sales-demolished-on-twitter-as-legal-bollocks

If you bought a souvenir land plot in Scotland from Highland Titles and thought you actually ever owned it or gained any kind of title, isn't it about time you demanded your money back?

Daily Mail Lochaber Highland Estates Balmoral Photos Slip Up

The Daily Mail slipped up last week. Their gossip columnist wrote about Lochaber Highland Estates’ use of a photo of Balmoral to sell their ‘Laird of Lochaber’ product. Problem is, the photo was actually on a fan site, not on the company’s official website. We have no interest in seeing inaccurate stories published about Dr Bevis’s enterprises, and a friend of this blog contacted the Mail regarding the error.

Publication of an apology may be merited. Any notion, however, that Dr Bevis’s reputation has been damaged by the article, as his lawyers will doubtless argue, is laughable: In 2013, Highland Titles were caught red-handed by Private Eye and the Advertising Standards Authority linking in the press coverage section of highlandtitles.com to clones of newspaper websites where articles about Highland Titles had been favourably doctored. One article on the clone server featured a string of fabricated quotes from a Member of the Scottish Parliament, completely inverting the Member’s actual views on square-foot plot sellers (this article was not itself linked from highlandtitles.com; instead, a website critical of Highland Titles had been cloned and doctored to link to it). In another fake on the clone server, author data had inadvertently been left, revealing the initials PB.

Back in 2011, Dr Bevis was exposed in the Mirror over the Telephone Preference Register, a classic ‘copycat website’ censured by the Advertising Standards Authority, which used paid Google listings to snaffle unwitting users searching for the free official Telephone Preference Service. Amid public anger over copycat websites, the government has since intervened to stop Google displaying paid adverts ahead of listings for official services.

On such behaviour is Peter Bevis’s reputation founded. Against which backdrop, the Mail erroneously claimed that his website, er, used a photo of Balmoral in their marketing. Sacre bleu!

In fact, the reality of Lochaber Highland Estate’s marketing was distinctly dodgier than the Mail’s erroneous claim. We note as one example this archived page http://www.screenshots.com/lochaberhighlandestates.com/2009-05-05 inviting you to ‘buy a noble title’. Claiming they could sell a ‘noble title’ could have landed them in very hot water had this been acted on at the time.

Those of us with longer memories will recall Dr Bevis’s sales of £5,000 half-acre plots of Keil Hill using a photo of (no, not Balmoral!) Delliefure Natural Burial Ground, fully 100 miles away, accompanied by the misleading pitch that ‘... planning permission may be possible in the future and so the plots offer an interesting long term investment...’. How the claim that ‘planning permission may be possible in the future’ can be reconciled with Dr Bevis’s designation of the same land as a Nature Reserve and with Highland Titles’ sales of square-foot plots ‘to protect these conserved lands from ever being developed’ is beyond comprehension. Owners actually wrote about their plans to build retirement cabins and the like, and given the sums involved (one individual spent more than £16,000 on 3 plots, something of an achievement given there is no shortage of Hill/Rough Grazing land in the Highlands and the benchmark price is £100 to £1,000/acre http://www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk/land-management-review, some of the owners may be very upset when the nature of the misselling of this ‘interesting long term investment’ becomes apparent.

These fond reminiscences aside, we are pleased to see the Mail article has now been taken down. Although there was no possibility of the article damaging Dr Bevis’s reputation more than he has managed through his own efforts, it pains us to see inaccurate stories about his enterprises when the truth offers such rich pickings.