The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has announced that an IFA which backed a £47 million property investment scheme is in default.

Bentley-Leek Financial Management (BLFM) has officially been declared to be in default following an investigation from the compensation fund and the Insolvency Service.

The firm previously advised property investors through an investment vehicle called Bentley Leek Properties, which advised consumers on both UK and international property and development investment opportunities.

The FSCS announced in August that even though BLFM had been placed into creditor’s voluntary liquidation in November 2011, no declaration of default would be made against the firm until there was at least one eligible claim from a creditor that could be made.

Since then, however, the FSCS has received 140 claims from clients of BLFM.

A spokesman from the Scheme said that although the firm had been declared in default, it would be several weeks until any payments could be made, as the FSCS must first decide the value of any outstanding investments.

A statement from the FSCS read: “BLFM is now in default but there is a quantification issue - because there are a number of different product areas involved we need to decide how much we would pay in each case. So we expect to be in a better position in a few weeks’ time.

“We are dealing with quite different claims, different investments, and different products. Deciding what the value of those investments was at the time of investment is one of the issues we have to consider.”

The FSCS has since added that a further announcement will be made in the coming weeks addressing further action to be taken with BLFM.