The Trio collapse attracted many misleading remarks about the Astarra Strategic fraud and the victims of the crime became targets for victimization attacks (blaming victims of crime for being victims). Who were the people behind the misleading remarks? What was their reason?
Was it vested interest in the 25 billion dollar per year superannuation service industry that DIY funds got bad name?
Perhaps the government, caught sleeping, while citizens’ savings were stolen, created distractions, misinformation and victimization to keep attention away from its failures.
Jeremy Cooper
said in referring to the Trio victims in the article, ‘No safety net’ on SMSF losses’ “you can't have your cake and eat it too”. The comment is meant to justify that it was the choice of the self-managed investor to place his/her savings into the ASF so they must accept the consequences. Mr Cooper said in the same article, ''You win your own wins, and you own your own losses.''
This same type of victimization would not look good if the people held hostage at the Lindt Cafe siege in December 2014, were told, “you can't have your cake and eat it too”, or people injured by the vehicle attack in Burk Street Mall January 21st 2017, ''You win your own wins, and you own your own losses.''
Such comments by Mr Cooper have no logic in a crime event, particularly aiming such comments at the victims of crime.
What is behind the article ‘No safety net’ on SMSF losses’ and why did the article appear repeatedly on Google search pages?
The identical header ‘No safety net’ on SMSF losses’, appeared more than 100 identical “hits”. Google Search pages were 10 pages deep, with about 10 or 12 same articles per page, for example,
'No safety net' on SMSF losses - HOTheadlines - Australian News ... www.hotheadlines.com.au/redirect.php?...No_safety_net_on_SMSF_losses... - Cached
'No safety net' on SMSF losses
www.allnewsau.com/news/no-safety-net-on-smsf-losses - Cached
Related: 'No safety net' on SMSF losses | Page - 3 - Page 4
www.allnewsau.com/news/no-safety-net-on-smsf-losses/related?p=4 - Cached
The addresses are national and regional Fairfax publications throughout Australia.
The article was not an accurate account about the Trio fraud but instilled fear about self-managed superannuation funds vulnerability to loose everything if fraud occurs.
Mr Cooper is Chairman of Challenger Limited (Challenger) managing over $57.4 billion in assets (as at March 31st 2016) and APRA regulated superannuation funds and large managed funds would directly benefit if popularity decreased in self-managed funds.
Mr Cooper’s background shows starting July 12th 2004 he began a five-year term as ASIC Deputy Chairman. On his watch the international Trio Capital fraudsters established the one-way siphoning scheme. ASIC cannot be expected to remember that because of a fraud case against the Australian Commonwealth they travelled to Hong Kong in 2002 to collect 100,000 documents from Flader and Sutherland’s office. The same Hong Kong addresses were on the companies registration documentation held by ASIC that purchased the Trio Capital fund.
June 8th 2005 Mr Cooper gave a presentation at the KPMG Centre about ‘Financial Statement Fraud - Corporate Crime of the 21st Century.’ Entirely devoted to fraud, the 16 page presentation tackles fraud in the Global context of Enron, WorldCom, Sunbeam, Parmalat, and HIH. Meanwhile what turned out to be Australia’s largest fraud in history was evolving and developing outside Mr Cooper’s office.
In 2011 the Superannuation Minister, Bill Shorten accused self-managed investors for swimming “outside the flags’. It is a reference found in two ASIC publications about investing “between the flags’ and one was written by Mr Cooper. Mr Cooper understands the term but he never corrected Mr Shorten or informed the media that the wrong perception was being created by suggesting self-managed investors were “outside the flags”. He never informed the media that self-managed investors in the ASF had ticked all the boxes and were indeed fulfilling ASIC’s requirements of being ‘between the flags’.
Mr Cooper’s Corporate Crime of the 21st Century presentation points out that financial statement fraud involves deliberately misleading or omitting amounts or disclosures in financial statements in an attempt to deceive financial statement users, particularly investors or creditors. He does not suggest that the people being defrauded “can't have your cake and eat it too” or ''win your own wins, and you own your own losses'' like he has said to the people defrauded by Trio.
Ministers of the Crown are required to follow the Ministerial Code of Conduct. Being a Minister of the Crown demands the highest standards of probity, accountability, honesty, integrity and diligence in the exercise of their public duties and functions.
Of the 6,090 people who had their investment savings stolen from the Astarra Strategic Fund (ASF) the Minister for Superannuation, Bill Shorten, blamed the DIY funds (4.75%) for their own loss and the rest of the victims were victims for no fault of their own. Self-managed investors were blamed for:
"swimming outside the flags";
"let the buyer beware";
"you need to take responsibility for your own decisions";
"If you buy something without doing your homework, well, you're an adult, that's your responsibility"
(Inferring the people who had their money stolen did not do enough homework.);
"placed money into a troubled fund"; and
'self-managed superannuation funds are not APRA regulated funds, therefore, "they are responsible for their own choices"'.
The Fairfax article by Gareth Hutchens 'No safety net' on SMSF losses' published March 27, 2013 - heavily quoting Jeremy Cooper, raises questions about the impact of its release across the Fairfax network to the extent that no other story in the history of Australian journalism has a comparison.
There are examples of other journalist that appear to be the mouthpiece for ASIC as the narrative and content is something similar that can be aligned with ASIC or APRA.
The Ministerial Code of Conduct calls on Ministers to be as open as possible and give reasons for their decisions and actions to ensure they are working in the public interest.
Stephen Jones MP and Sharon Bird MP for the electoral division of
Cunningham and Throsby (now Whitlam), supported Mr Shorten in
blaming the 4.75% group. Mr Jones added that the victims relied on
advice from a financial planner who had to be out of his mind to place
money into Trio.
Ms Bird added that not everyone invested in Trio. Her remark infers that
the victims caught up by a crime were in the wrong place, like the people
inside the Sari club in Bali in 2002 when an attack killed 202 people. Ms
Bird's comment does not recognise or acknowledge the crime.
