Halcyon Retreat- The Times

7th May 2026
Posted in Fraud Awareness, Fraud recovery experts, Legal Help, The Times

We were contacted by The Times newspaper following a significant development in the case of Halcyon Retreat- an investment scheme that appears to have lost millions of pounds.

A former British police officer has been arrested in Spain following a French fraud investigation linked to a collapsed luxury resort project.

Richardson Hartley Law is representing a number of UK clients who can fear they have lost money in the scheme.

Our senior partner Martin Richardson and one of our clients spoke to the newspaper about the case.

Mr Richardson told The Times: “The clients were sold a dream that has turned into a nightmare. Many have lost their life-savings.

“The arrest of Robin Barrasford on suspicion of fraud is certainly very interesting as we explore exactly what has happened in this case. Mr Barrasford’s arrest may make it easier for us to make claims on behalf of our clients who potentially wish to seek financial redress through bank fraud reimbursement models.“

The Times reported how Robin Barrasford, 56, was detained after French authorities issued an arrest warrant via the public prosecutor’s office in Bordeaux, with extradition now being sought.

Searches were also carried out in Marbella and London in connection with the Wyndham Halcyon Retreat Golf and Spa Resort – a development planned in the Creuse département of France, near the 19th-century Château de la Cazine.

Announced in 2013, the project promised a luxury complex of 358 residences, a golf course and spa, with investors invited to pay up to £1.1 million for a residence. Barrasford and his business partner, Alan Bird, 70, are directors of Halcyon Retreat, the French-registered firm behind the project. Investor documents also reference Halcyon Developments Group, based in Devon.

The resort never got off the ground. Dozens of investors say they have lost their life savings.

One of Richardson Hartley Law’s clients also agreed to speak to The Times about his investment.

Ray Holmes, 65, a retired local government officer from Derbyshire, agreed to pay £37,885 for a one-thirteenth share of a flat at the resort in 2022 after seeing it mentioned by the website of Channel 4’s programme A Place in the Sun.

Holmes, who became a father for the first time at 61, said he saw the residence as an investment but also a “place to give us some family memories. You realise at my age that you are only going to have a finite time with your daughter and so … it seemed like an attractive thing.”

He said the developers sent photographs taken from drones of the site. Initially, they showed work under way. “But then the drone flythroughs showed nothing much happening and that is when I started to get worried.”

Holmes received an initial payment of £1,136.58 but then nothing more until he posted a critical review of the project online, at which point he says Barrasford contacted him. He subsequently received a further payment of £1,421 last year but has had nothing since then.

He only paid 50 per cent of the purchase price because the rest was due after building work that has never been completed.

Nevertheless, he says he has lost about a third of his lump-sum pension payout he received upon his retirement. “It hasn’t put us on the streets but it would have been handy to have that almost £19,000,” he said.

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed they are investigating reports of fraud relating to property investments linked to a former Tavistock-based company. No arrests have been made in the UK. Alan Bird has not been arrested and is not under criminal investigation.

Richardson Hartley Law is currently advising more than 12 investors, with senior partner Martin Richardson describing the situation as “a dream that has turned into a nightmare.”

Read The Times article in full: Former British police officer arrested over alleged French property scam