Campaigners call for public inquiry into financial misconduct after protest march

He added: "The march gave them a voice to protest at the ineffectiveness of authorities, including regulators, in securing fair treatment and justice. This is a widespread and very serious issue causing great harm to hard working families across the UK. We want urgent action through a statutory public inquiry to investigate failures by public bodies in relation to fraud and financial services misconduct."

Sue Flood, the vice chairman of the organising committee representing victims of financial misconduct, said. "We refuse to be silenced any longer and are determined to see meaningful change.”

Margaret Snowdon OBE, the chair of the Pension Scams Industry Group, is calling for “fair tax treatment” for victims of financial misconduct including investment fraud and pension scam victims. She said she will be presenting a petition soon calling for a change in the law.

Speaking after the march, Ms Snowdon told The Yorkshire Post: “A statutory inquiry is needed to understand the scale of misconduct. We also require HMRC to look at their policy on tax collection, work in line with their charter and to use powers to go after fraudsters rather than solely pursue the victims.”

Carly Barnes-Short, vice chair of the organising committee, highlighted the challenges faced by sports professionals who had been victims of financial misconduct.

She added: “Many sports stars came to the march and stood shoulder to shoulder with victims from all walks of life and every part of the UK to say ‘enough is enough’.”

One of the speakers at the event, Jeremy Cornfield, a financial adviser, said it was “utterly shameful” to hear about regulated financial advisers being the perpetrators of financial scams and misconduct.

Commenting on the issue of pension liberation scams, a HMRC spokesperson said: “We sympathise with people who may have lost money by entering such arrangements and handle these situations on a case by case basis.

"We recognise that dealing with large tax liabilities can lead to pressure on individuals and we are committed to identifying and supporting anyone who needs extra help.

"We have a legal duty to collect tax whenever it’s due but our message to anyone who is worried about paying what they owe is: please contact us as soon as possible to talk about your options.”

"Where we are seeking to collect tax, it is because the individual’s pension scheme made an unauthorised payment in respect of that individual. Not collecting the tax due would be unfair on the overwhelming majority of taxpayers who abide by pension tax rules.”

The Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment on the issues raised by the march.