On 9 October 2025, Edmonds Marshall McMahon successfully helped its clients, investor Scott Fletcher and Lowry Trading Limited, to secure a Summary Judgment against investment influencer and celebrity podcaster, Matt Haycox, who had fraudulently induced both to make substantial investments to finance a property ‘deal’ that was represented as having completed but which never completed.
Background to the Fraud Claim
Mr Haycox and Mr Fletcher met in 2021. Mr Haycox told Mr Fletcher that he was able to offer profit making opportunities via the making of short-term loans through the “Huddle Group” of companies, for which he acted as a broker. Individual loans would be held by SPVs in the Huddle Group on trust for the investors.
In late 2022, Mr Haycox introduced an investment opportunity to Mr Fletcher whereby the latter would invest £4.5 million in what should have been a 6-month loan to two hoteliers who were looking to turn a 14-century residential property in East Sussex into a luxury hotel. The loan was to be provided via “SPV 20” in the Huddle Group.
Fraudulent Misrepresentations in November 2022
By email dated 17 November 2022, Mr Haycox confirmed that the ‘legals’ were “now there” and, to demonstrate that, attached signed loan documents between the hoteliers and SPV 20 in relation to the property (legal charge and facilities agreement), all of which were on their face executed.
Based on Mr Haycox’s representations about the existence of a completed loan deal, on 1 December 2022, Mr Fletcher transferred £4.5 million to the bank account Mr Haycox had provided for SPV 20.
What Mr Haycox did not tell Mr Fletcher was that the property loan had not completed on 17 November 2022 nor at any stage thereafter. This was well known to Mr Haycox, who was chasing the hoteliers to complete the loan in early December 2022 and, finally, on 15 December 2022, told the hoteliers that “the deal is now dead”. The deal documents provided were not genuine.
Fraudulent Misrepresentations from December 2022 to January 2024
Instead of coming clean to Mr Fletcher then and there and returning his funds to him, Mr Haycox continued deceiving Mr Fletcher about the existence of a completed loan. From December 2022 to January 2024, Mr Haycox provided regular updates on the performance on the SPV 20 loan, including interest and capital repayments that likely came from Mr Fletcher’s own invested amounts.
Deceit and Fraudulent Misrepresentation finding against Matt Haycox
Issuing Summary Judgment against Mr Haycox for deceit and fraudulent misrepresentations, His Honour Judge Pearce, sitting as a Judge of the High Court at Manchester Circuit Commercial Court concluded, on 9 October 2025, that Mr Haycox knew that the statements within his 17 November 2022 email were untrue and were made with the intention to deceive Mr Fletcher and induce his investment into SPV 20.
Mr Haycox had admitted to the subsequent loan updates being untrue but had tried to explain them away as mere “white lies” and “strategic misstatements” in order to “manage a volatile investor relationship”. Rejecting that defence, Judge Pearce noted that “a lie is no less a lie if a person was angry when told the truth”.
Having heard all of Mr Haycox’s arguments in potential defence of the claims against him, Judge Pearce concluded that Mr Haycox had no real prospect of success of defending the claims against him and nor was there any other reason why a Summary Judgment for deceit and fraudulent misrepresentation should not be granted.
Jonathan Cohen KC and Ashley Cukier both of Littleton Chambers, were instructed by Andrew Marshall, John Day, Liina Tulk and Alexandra Fountain at Edmonds Marshall McMahon.
Andrew Marshall, Partner at Edmonds Marshall McMahon, comments:
“Through tireless work for our clients, we were able to recover and produce indisputable contemporaneous written evidence of Matt Haycox’s fraudulent misrepresentations and deceit. That work, coupled with the real skill of counsel instructed, led to a rare Summary Judgment in fraud and deceit.”
Scott Fletcher, entrepreneur and investor, comments:
“Finally, justice has been served. The judge, having considered all of the evidence, in his judgment held that Haycox – via a series of fraudulent misrepresentations – deceived me to invest millions of pounds in an investment which he knew had not completed, and then maintained the lie through various purported lending “updates” thereafter.
I can only hope that on the back of this, nobody else is innocently defrauded like we were.
I like to think of myself as an astute businessman, yet Haycox managed to trick me, and he did so with extraordinary levels of deception across a long period of time.
Let this be a serious warning to everyone who seeks to deal with him.”
Image of Matt Haycox from his Instagram Account @thematthaycox
Author: Liina Tulk
