Advisers' role 'under investigation' in Dollarforce scheme

australian securities and investments commission mortgage advisers investors money management cent

17 February 2009
| By Liam Egan |

A number of advisers allegedly advised clients to take out reverse mortgage loans to invest in a failed Victorian property investment scheme, the assets of which have been frozen by the corporate regulator.

Van Moulis, practice group leader of legal firm Slater and Gordon , which has launched a class action against the Dollarforce Group of Companies on behalf of 80 investors, said some investments could be sourced to advisers.

However, Moulis told Money Management he could not say whether any advisers could be implicated in the pending class action until Slater and Gordon had completed its investigations.

Many investors are understood to have taken out reverse mortgages to finance their investments in Dollarforce, taking out structured loans that they believed would deliver returns of between 10 and 14 per cent.

Dollarforce directors Clestus Weerappah and Andrea Hawkins raised a total of $43 million from investors, $23 million of which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged has not been returned.

ASIC accused the duo of using the money to finance other investors' interest payments or transferring it to other accounts they controlled.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

This verdict highlights something deeply wrong and rotten at the heart of the FSCP. We are witnessing a heavy-handed, op...

2 days 21 hours ago

Interesting. Would be good to know the details of the StrategyOne deal....

1 week ago

It’s astonishing to see the FAAA now pushing for more advisers by courting "career changers" and international recruits,...

3 weeks 5 days ago

Insignia Financial has made four appointments, including three who have joined from TAL, to lead strategy and innovation in its retirement solutions for the MLC brand....

3 weeks ago

A former Brisbane financial adviser has been charged with 26 counts of dishonest conduct regarding a failure to disclose he would receive substantial commission payments ...

6 days 1 hour ago

Pinnacle Investment Management has announced it will acquire strategic interests in two international fund managers for $142 million....

5 days 4 hours ago