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… ever, and in recent years it has been increasingly successful. The latest example is the fight for a Senate inquiry into the collapse of the Sterling First rent-for-life scheme, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s blatant failure to protect the 140 or so elderly pensioners and retirees who are victims of that collapse. Last Thursday, 7 October, ABC 7.30 aired a report on the Sterling victims’ fight for an inquiry, which reported the breakthrough that the Labor Party is now supporting an inquiry that includes ASIC (p.3). …

… years ago, I held a rally for 180 elderly persons who were cruelly tricked into a terrible Ponzi scam, engineered in Western Australia. The “Sterling First” scandal hit the headlines telling the story of innocent citizens being coaxed into selling their own homes, signing WA Tenancy Leases, … get possession of their “forever” home. Over $18 million had been stolen, or as the  directors suggested, it disappeared down a black hole. The Sterling First scandal dragged on, with State and Federal regulators blaming each other with no respect paid to the elderly victims and their …

… to the financial advisors who were talking them into ploughing their savings into the scheme. In the current case of the collapse of the Sterling First rent-for-life scheme, the directors targeted the 140 or so elderly pensioners and retirees with very sophisticated pitches, offering them all … first to ask if there were any red flags they should know about, only to be reassured by ASIC that there weren’t any, despite ASIC knowing that Sterling directors had a history of failed financial schemes. For those victims, caveat emptor is an excuse for letting the predators get away with …