Storm Financial Group

Solly · 3 August 2009

"Questions raised over Storm inquiry"

"The establishment of yet another inquiry into the Storm Financial collapse has left many wondering if it will be money well spent."

More by Kate Kachor in Investor Daily is here;

http://www.investordaily.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/id/style/7081.htm

Ironhalo · 3 August 2009

Monario, what side of the fence are you on? You are calling the majority of the people in this forum 'ignorant and ill-informed', yet the majority of the people in this forum simply refuse to believe the bullcrap that SICAG are peddling in regards to it being solely the banks fault.

I don't know how I can say it any clearer, but STORM (and therefore EMMANUEL CASSIMATIS) himself failed to take action to sell Storm investors down when they told him to. The banks were just as bad noting that they didn't ring their own clients to tell them they were approaching a situation that they wouldn't recover from unless they took action.

I spent the weekend with my brother who has his finger on the pulse on what was transpiring at Storm in Redcliffe, QLD, as he knows a lot of the local identities in question up there having been a previous client of Jelich Jones. Turns out one of his own school chums worked for Storm and he saw him the other day at the local shops. My brother gave it to him with both barrels, and asked why no one got sold down when their LVR's were spiralling to 80%, then 90% and finally > 100%.

You know what this guy said? He told my brother that they had specific orders directly from Manny in Townsville to not sell ANYONE down under ANY circumstances. Basically because, 1. if the sold people down even for a few months, Storm would lose their cash flow and 2. Manny arrogantly believed he could talk sense into the banks. Sadly, it's an example of another Storm employee who knew what they were doing was wrong, but were happy to shut their mouths and keep accepting the money and benefits that they were feeding from at Manny's table.

Manny's neglect (and the people that worked for him) have resulted in the 1000's of families devastated by this crisis. At your next SICAG circle-jerk, I suggest you bring that little nugget of information up to one of the myriad of ex-employees/wolves in sheeps clothing having a sausage and beer in the corner and see what they say.

carey ramm · 3 August 2009

Attention All CBA Townsville Storm Clients

Slater and Gordon are working out of the Townsville offices of AEC Group at 233 Flinders St East and have lawyers on the ground this week to meet with CBA clients as part of the resolution process for Storm clients. If there are any Storm clients out there in NQ who dont understand this process or not registered with Slaters this is a good opportunity to come in and have a chat and discuss their options.

Can u please circulate this info.

DocK · 3 August 2009

Ironhalo said:
....asked why no one got sold down when their LVR's were spiralling to 80%, then 90% and finally > 100%.

You know what this guy said? He told my brother that they had specific orders directly from Manny in Townsville to not sell ANYONE down under ANY circumstances. Basically because, 1. if the sold people down even for a few months, Storm would lose their cash flow and 2. Manny arrogantly believed he could talk sense into the banks...

I hope your brother will be passing this information on to ASIC, Senate Enquiry etc as it is precisely the type of information that must come to light. So much angst is being suffered by people who just can't understand why their instructions to sell weren't acted upon. Cassimatis blames the banks, the banks blame Storm. The clients are the ones who deserve to know the plain unadulterated truth of the matter, and I hope this particular ex-Storm employee and others will honestly answer the question that has been asked so often in submissions - why weren't instructions to sell acted upon - imo because the Cassimatis ego is obviously so huge they thought they could dictate to the banks and have them carry a multitude of clients in margin call until some undetermined time in the future, with no security, purely because Manny & Julie didn't want to lose their "cash cows", and were willing to guarantee that everything would be OK in the long run - because Manny said so!

Garpal Gumnut · 3 August 2009

I see that Moneyspidercentral now have a quote from Thomas Jefferson on their front page, pushing their disclaimer about the Cassimatises even further down the page.

The disclaimer should be at the top, as Storm put the victims into the hands of the banks in the first place.

It was good ole American can do claptrap and "truisms" that got the poor Storm victims into this mess in the first place.

Next MSC will have Seven Habits for Highly Successful Nuns ripped off by Storm in the header.

Perhaps Seven Nuns would be a good logo for MSC.

gg

Ironhalo · 3 August 2009

This is getting out of hand.

SICAG now attribute the Banks with the 'fall of mankind?'. Funny, a lot of the SICAG members who were formally Storm employees seemed to have no dramas with banks when they were riding the crest of their margin lending fortunes back in early 08!

It is fair to say that SICAG has now completely revealed their true bias, their true intentions, and their true existing relationship with the Cassimatises.

Hidden Agendas? · 3 August 2009

Solly said:
"Questions raised over Storm inquiry"

"The establishment of yet another inquiry into the Storm Financial collapse has left many wondering if it will be money well spent."

Does anyone think it odd that SICAG is advocating that the liquidators not hold a public enquiry into Storm?

The only people who have anything to hide from the liquidators are the Directors and senior staff of Storm. This is an investigation in the circumstances behind the collapse of Storm and any insolvent trading or preferrential creditor payments.

Is this just another example of looking after special friends?

Ironhalo · 3 August 2009

Hidden Agendas....got it in one buddy.

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Ironhalo said:
Nice detective work GG.

Like Ron Jelich, these Redcliffe based Storm employees somehow now suddenly feel outraged that their clients (whom had they been doing their job properly wouldn't have let them get themselves into this level of risk) have been dealt the hand of 'injustice' from the banks.

I have some admiration for Ron Jelich (albeit small) in that he pretty much repented his sins in his submission stating 'I should have spoken up....I will carry this to my grave', but it doesn't negate the fact that these people DIDN'T speak up, and ultimately were happy to earn the big bucks and enjoy cavorting in the Cassmatis's court; yet when it went pear-shaped, they are now the 'voice of reason' to the banks. The very institutions that although responsible for shouldering some of the blame, were in a symbiotic, profit-making relationship with Storm, and vicariously, their employees.. And don't tell me 'we never saw any of that!', my advisor loved telling me about Manny shouting most of the employees on the world trip in 08....Mediterranean wasn't it?

Verily, the hypocrisy offends me. I will hand it to SICAG, your moral support for victims has been commendable, and I am sure you have talked people back from the edge. But these are desperate people who should never have been pushed to the edge to begin with.

51 page submissions from the media head of SICAG that completely fail to address the glaring failures of Storm to show any sense of responsibility, professionalism or competance in Oct-Dec last year leave me shaking my head in disbelief.

My mother, brother and sister (all Redcliffe locals), who were loyal clients of Jelich-Jones before they sold out refuse to attend any SICAG meetings for this very hypocrisy.

It's harsh, sure, but it's reality. Or at least a perception....and we all know that old saying...

Luke Vogel is not the media spokesman for SICAG. He built and maintains the website and is on the SICAG committee.

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Garpal Gumnut said:
There is more to come out about SICAG.

Keep reading ASF all you Storm victims for independent, financial adviser free, information on the true rogues in the wipeout of your savings.

SICAG is top heavy with former Storm employees, managers and family of Storm employees.

Remember it was Storm that got you into this in the first place and then they lined you up like wood ducks for the banks.

gg

GG and other critics:
While I generally peruse the posts on ASF with a mix of bemusement and a raised eyebrow, the sweeping criticisms of the bona fides of the members of the SICAG committee cannot go unchallenged. I am NOT a former Storm investor; I act as SICAG's media adviser and have attended every meeting of the group since its formation in January this year. The fact (never denied or concealed) that some of the committee guys have links - direct and indirect - to Storm Financial and EC/JC - should not detract from the commendable job they have done and continue to do for their distressed members. This is an open invitation to come along to the next meeting of SICAG and judge for yourself from ground level rather than from the ivory tower of anonymous ignorance. What can I say about those who happily benefit from SICAG's campaign but snootily refuse to hand over $50 to help the cause because of some perceived moral stance? It leaves me speechless...

Smiley · 3 August 2009

Your point is what Big Max - re Luke Vogel?
The quote from Jefferson also bother me . . .as does the disclaimer. . . who cares if we did not pay until we signed up . . . we then paid for lousy advice and paid too much and will continue paying for the rest of our lives. . . .SICAG could be much more up front about all of this. . . .
And did you read Luke's submission? Why no mention of his advisers and their actions?
I appreciate the efforts of the SICAG founders and their intentions but there is a problem when they do not distance themselves more from Storm and the processs we under went in being stormified.

Monario · 3 August 2009

Ironhalo said:
Monario, what side of the fence are you on? You are calling the majority of the people in this forum 'ignorant and ill-informed', yet the majority of the people in this forum simply refuse to believe the bullcrap that SICAG are peddling in regards to it being solely the banks fault.

I don't know how I can say it any clearer, but STORM (and therefore EMMANUEL CASSIMATIS) himself failed to take action to sell Storm investors down when they told him to. The banks were just as bad noting that they didn't ring their own clients to tell them they were approaching a situation that they wouldn't recover from unless they took action.

I spent the weekend with my brother who has his finger on the pulse on what was transpiring at Storm in Redcliffe, QLD, as he knows a lot of the local identities in question up there having been a previous client of Jelich Jones. Turns out one of his own school chums worked for Storm and he saw him the other day at the local shops. My brother gave it to him with both barrels, and asked why no one got sold down when their LVR's were spiralling to 80%, then 90% and finally > 100%.

You know what this guy said? He told my brother that they had specific orders directly from Manny in Townsville to not sell ANYONE down under ANY circumstances. Basically because, 1. if the sold people down even for a few months, Storm would lose their cash flow and 2. Manny arrogantly believed he could talk sense into the banks. Sadly, it's an example of another Storm employee who knew what they were doing was wrong, but were happy to shut their mouths and keep accepting the money and benefits that they were feeding from at Manny's table.

Manny's neglect (and the people that worked for him) have resulted in the 1000's of families devastated by this crisis. At your next SICAG circle-jerk, I suggest you bring that little nugget of information up to one of the myriad of ex-employees/wolves in sheeps clothing having a sausage and beer in the corner and see what they say.

The side of the fence I sit on.

1) Ex storm investor

2) Have been to a sicag meeting, and although I follow there progress, do not have anything to do with them directly, nor support there ideas 100%.

3) Have fought my own battles directly with the banks, Margin lenders, Storm.

4) Know in person dozens of ex. storm investors and there stories

5) Am of the belief the majority of people on here that poo poo what stormers are trying to achieve, have no direct contact with any ex stormers, and have developed there oinions on assumptions and what is written in the press rather than going out to find out the real truths of this utterly disgusting F%^k up!!!

I hope that clears it up for you a bit where I stand Ironhalo, whilst I dont think everyone here is in the same bost there seem to be quite a few who dont know a thing about what they a commenting on!!!

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Farencue said:
Ironhalo, I believe the stormified will have no choice but to see the truth once September rolls around.
The SICAG bluff will be revealed for what it is.
Kinda reminds me of when Clinton said he "did not have sexual relations with that woman" although the truth was outed eventually.

The Storm MO is to bluff your way until the end, by that time you would have hopefully lined all your ducks up in a row, that way when you are found to have acted improperly (as the advisers did) by ASIC, you will still have all the sheep bleating your innocence.

SICAG stunk like a rotten fish right from the start!!!

PS _ Smiley, I saw something in brief the other night where Madoff said he couldnt believe that he got away with what he did for so long!!

Farencue, tell me about the SICAG bluff.

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Anastasia said:
I will totally ignore your condesending attitude and not give it the attention you are seeking...I just hope you feel a lot bigger for saying it and that it was worth putting me down.

If you read what I said in my earlier post, I do hold Storm very accountable for giving me the bad advise, and I cannot believe now how gullible we were but..... I believe that if the banks realized that there is every likely hood this investment will go pear shaped, that their clients would have absolutely no way of repaying the loans, then it was their duty of care not to give us the loans. When they did however keep increasing our loans over the years, it reinforced in us the belief that Storm must be giving us the right advice.

If I were prescribed a drug by my doctor and had that script continually filled by my pharmacist who knew my medical condition and he knew that it would eventually make me very ill or harm me. Qould I not hold the pharmacist accountable? Yes the doctor is very much to blame for prescribing me the drug.

But is not the pharmacist also to blame. He knows that it would eventually harm me. If he said "No I cannot give you this drug as it will harm you"; wouldn't that make me then want to get another opinion or at least question why I am being prescribed such medication.

I am sorry Judd if I am not so "bright" when it comes to finances...I guess that is why I sought financial advice. And also Judd just for your information, I am a very capable person working in a very specialised area that I feel very confident in and capable. People seek my advice because they have no or little knowledge in what I do but require my assistance. They build up a lot of trust in me and I have a duty of care to them. You see Judd....we don't have to be all knowing about everything. And if you do not understand what I am saying then don't build a house with glass walls.

Anastasia. Be patient. You will get used to the kneejerk nature of debate on this site, generally based on a superficial knowledge of what is happening in the REAL world vis a vis the E-world, a world that is inhabited by all sorts of strange bedfellows. Stay calm and try not to take the baits.

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Trevor_S said:
Blame ? IMO
1) 70% "the investor",
2) 26% Storm,
3) 4% the banks.

The bank gave you heaps of money because that's how margin loans work (thank god), and they had security over the shares, you abdicated responsibility to monitoring that to a bunch of charlatans, now it looks like they ability to gain access to the wonderful product will be curtailed because the Government feels the need to try an attempt to protect people from themselves.

No use going after 1 or 2 as they have bupkiss, only option is to go after 3

GG and others . . . here's a clue from Trevor_S as to SICAG's strategy.

Ironhalo · 3 August 2009

Monario: Thanks for your post mate, I know you're hurting re: the Storm mess. In terms of myself, I also got stung by Storm/CBA to the tune of 12k (thank god I only got in 'early') and on top of that my brother lost over 30k, my sister 25k, and my mother 230k. They invested via the Redcliffe branch (previously Jelich-Jones), and I did it via the North Sydney branch, so my personal experience with the negligence of Storm and the CBA spans two states. My best mate also invested in Townsville and he as we speak is dodging bullets in Afghanistan trying to earn some money to pull himself out of financial devastation.

I have always maintained that SICAG have been a good morale-boosting crutch for a lot of people, but there is a rather concerning ulterior motive which is becoming abundantly more blatant as we start reaching the business end of the ASIC investigations.

Big Max: Sorry if I got you confused with Luke, my bad, and I will apologise unreservedly. The fact of the matter is though, is that Luke Vogel is a committee member, and it has since come out that he was a self-confessed ex-advisor in the Redcliffe branch. And therein lies the rub.

The fact that there are ex-Storm employees who were complicit in getting people into these situations (completely bereft of any financial advice that could be considered professional) is a disgusting hypocrisy.

Weir is now stating vehemently that he sees a seperate inquiry by Worrell's to be a 'waste of time.' Wait on, I thought that the whole idea was 'to get to the bottom of this mess?' Here's a quote from the SICAG website:

In order to be successful, our campaign needs to muster as much support as possible from every sector of the community including:
· Government
· Industry <---- As long as you don't drag up our ex-Storm SICAG committee members eh?
· General Public
· Anyone who already has a grievance against the banks, finance industry, regulators, or any other related party....

Thanks for the kind offer to join SICAG, but you can kindly stick your $50 where it proverbials. Storm has taken enough money from my family without having to pay a bunch of Manny sycophants and ex-employees more to divert all blame from Storm/Manny and onto the banks.

Until SICAG admits publicly that the blame must be shared between the Cassmatis's, the employees who sat back and did nothing (and forged loan docs) AND the banks, then we on this forum will continue to poke our finger at your motives.

Ironhalo · 3 August 2009

Big Max said:
Blame ? IMO
1) 70% "the investor",
2) 26% Storm,
3) 4% the banks....
No use going after 1 or 2 as they have bupkiss, only option is to go after 3

GG and others . . . here's a clue from Trevor_S as to SICAG's strategy.

Last I checked, Manny was still living in a palatial mansion in Belmont, no?

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Pindibog said:
How is it the clients fault that did not mortgage a house to invest?
Had been using the ML facility moderately for over 13yrs. Never received margin call. Let blow out to 107% and had cash in dam account for inevitable margin call. Lets not also forget the banks closed down the Storm badged index funds and made clients realise their losses when the market was so low. There are clients suffering that did not even have margin loans. But as per usual ASF puts all stromers in one basket.
Storm and Banks DO have alot to answer and they are both corrupt and negligent in their duties!

Well said Pindibog. Nice to hear a voice of reason.

Big Max · 3 August 2009

Smiley said:
I don't know how SICAG committee members can lodge a submission. Why not just do so in their own names? I know for a fact SICAG members were not surveyed for other than Carey Ramm's (AEC submission). The committe cannot represent themselves as speaking for the members. Does this seem strange to anyone else?

For the record, SICAG's membership survey was initiated and commissioned by SICAG. Carey agreed to a request from me and John McLennan several months ago to assist with the collation of SICAG's submission. The request was made because of Carey's expertise in dealing with submissions of this nature and his company's considerable computer grunt - weapons that SICAG did not possess. AEC assisted SICAG in setting the questions and crunched the replies. SICAG notes that Carey elected to use the SICAG survey in his own submission. The information will also appear in SICAG's submission which should be on the web this week. SICAG and AEC have been working together for some time to assist former Storm investors.

Garpal Gumnut · 3 August 2009

Big Max said:
For the record, SICAG's membership survey was initiated and commissioned by SICAG. Carey agreed to a request from me and John McLennan several months ago to assist with the collation of SICAG's submission. The request was made because of Carey's expertise in dealing with submissions of this nature and his company's considerable computer grunt - weapons that SICAG did not possess. AEC assisted SICAG in setting the questions and crunched the replies. SICAG notes that Carey elected to use the SICAG survey in his own submission. The information will also appear in SICAG's submission which should be on the web this week. SICAG and AEC have been working together for some time to assist former Storm investors.

Max mate,

Its all about appearances and perceptions.

If so many ex Storm advisers, Manny friends and their families are controlling SICAG, then the assumption is that the SICAG submission will be skewed to exonerate Storm, Manny and his acolytes.

Its not brain science mate.

gg

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