A CAMPAIGNER said an announcement that victims of Farepak will have got around half their money back after a payment next month is misleading.

Liquidators BDO has said victims of the collapse of the Christmas savings scheme will have received around 50p in the pound after it pays a divident to creditors.

But former Farepak agent and Newport city councillor Debbie Harvey said that is misleading, with 17.5p of the 50p having come from a charity.

The Farepak Response Fund aimed to deliver vouchers to victims at Christmas 2006, following the collapse of the company. The rest – 32p in the pound – will be made in a payment to 114,000 Farepak creditors next month, BDO said.

It comes after Lloyds Banking Group, whose subsidiary HBOS was recently criticised by a High Court judge over the affairs, made an £8 million payment to be distributed to customers and agents by the liquidators.

“They’re going to make my job a lot harder. They are saying they are getting half of their money back. They are not,” said Cllr Harvey.

She said she has already been called by one victim who thought that was the case.

Cllr Harvey, who is secretary of the Farepak Victims Committee, added: “How can they mislead people?”

Cllr Harvey is to raise the issue with Vince Cable, secretary of state for business, when she and Newport East MP Jessica Morden meet him tomorrow.

She will also push for regulations around pre-payment schemes to be tightened up so the Farepak disaster can never happen again.

A spokeswoman for BDO said it had been very clear in its announcement.