Police investigating fraud allegation following closure of Ipswich broker

The Ipswich-based broker, which went into administration In July, followed the closure of insurance lead generator Call Connection, also based in Ipswich, the same week.

The two companies are separate entities, but according to Companies House filings shared the same registered office and were both majority owned by Graeme Kalbraier.

In response to a question by Post over whether there was an investigation into Ignition Select, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Police said: “We have received an allegation of possible fraud and we’re currently looking into what it amounts to.”

A former senior employee of Call Connection told Post: “In my eyes, it was just poorly managed financing on his [Kalbraier’s] part, with other directors not being strong enough to confront him about it or when they did, it was too far gone.”

Kalbraier could not be immediately reached for comment.

The source said that there had been a number of potential buyers for both businesses: “Unfortunately, it seems that there was not enough for them to see value in the businesses as whole businesses.

“We were told very little about the buyers, but we were told that the companies who were interested, in most cases, wanted parts and not the entire businesses.”

The source cited “low cashflow” as the reason for the closures.

A spokesman for the Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment as to whether they were investigating any of the firms involved.

While Ignition Select remains in administration, Call Connection is now in liquidation.