Property crash exposes yet another dodgy deal

jmayo

Not sure if this should go in here or not ?

It does relate to how funds were diverted from all directions, by what appears to be unscrupulous means, into the one trick pony of property investment.

An investment house divert peoples' funds into property, it seems without peoples permission which is where the possible illegality comes in.

The High Court has appointed a liquidator to investment company Custom House Capital (CHC), after inspectors from the Central Bank found "unauthorised and improper transactions" involving €56m of client funds.

The court also ordered all the reports and exhibits gathered by the Central Bank investigators to be sent to the Director of Corporate enforcement, the DPP, the Garda Commissioner and Revenue.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1021/customhouse-business.html

Do I dare hope that at last someone somewhere will be held responsible for dodgy deals relating to the property bubble or should I just be my usual cynical self and reckon these files will end up in the same bin as those on thomas byrne, michael lynn, seanie fitz, breffni o'brien, etc, etc ?

meglome

jmayo wrote: »

Do I dare hope that at last someone somewhere will be held responsible for dodgy deals relating to the property bubble or should I just be my usual cynical self and reckon these files will end up in the same bin as those on thomas byrne, michael lynn, seanie fitz, breffni o'brien, etc, etc ?

I believe that it's far better to fix problems so they don't happen again than it is to find someone to blame. But I would dearly love to see some of these dodgy ****ers in prison as an example of what will happen to others if they followed the same path. Hopeful but not optimistic.

jmayo

meglome wrote: »

I believe that it's far better to fix problems so they don't happen again than it is to find someone to blame. But I would dearly love to see some of these dodgy ****ers in prison as an example of what will happen to others if they followed the same path. Hopeful but not optimistic.

I actually think sending them down is one of the best ways of fixing things.
Then the next time someone thinks that they can pull the same stroke they realise that they will be punished by a trip to jail.

As it is nobody here is ever found responsible and if they are by some stroke of luck they just get slap on wrist.

If insider traders in Ireland got the same treatment as martha stewart or Michael Milken then perhaps mr jim flavin might not have played silly buggers.
If company share support scheme organisers got the treatment that ernest suanders got then maybe just maybe we might not have to pay for the bank loan losses encurred by the Anglo ten as organised by drumm/fitzpatrick.

We desperately need the use of the stick approach in corporate governance in this country.
I think the personal assets of anybody, who knowingly behave illegally/recklessly without consent with other peoples' funds, should be confiscated to recompense the people out of pocket.

Oh and by jail I don't mean a cushy farm retreat, but slopping out in the Joy.

krd

There's a very powerful mentality in Ireland, that if someone gets wealthy in really crooked way, they shouldn't be punished - and they should be helped hang on to their ill gotten gains.

I think it's getting nearly impossible, here, for people to run legitimate businesses. It's just too shady.

What really hurts - if even a fraction of that money wasted on property was spent investing in legitimate enterprise, we'd have a very different country.

zootroid

meglome wrote: »

I believe that it's far better to fix problems so they don't happen again than it is to find someone to blame. But I would dearly love to see some of these dodgy ****ers in prison as an example of what will happen to others if they followed the same path. Hopeful but not optimistic.

Rubbish. If laws were broken, then they have to be brought to justice. It's as simple as that. Not doing so undermines the criminal justice system, and gives the impression that people can break certain laws without any fear of the consequences, which only adds an incentive to act in an unlawful manner.

aftermn

Of course regulations should be enforced, and failure to do so undermines the whole system.
But this is Irleand. We have never enforced anything on certain sections of our society. Our 'tribunals' cost hundreds of millions to find nothing. Our builders are apparently 'regulated' by their own employees. We are constantly up before the EU courts because we can't obey rules.
This kind of rubbish has a cost on every euro that is circulating here. Therefore the real answer is arrange for your euros to circulate elsewhere.

meglome

zootroid wrote: »

Rubbish. If laws were broken, then they have to be brought to justice. It's as simple as that. Not doing so undermines the criminal justice system, and gives the impression that people can break certain laws without any fear of the consequences, which only adds an incentive to act in an unlawful manner.

Hold yer horsies there. You took the first part of my post and ignored the second part which says that I'd like to see these guys in gaol. The point I was making is looking for retribution doesn't fix anything by itself. The most important thing is to fix the system so it can't happen again. Don't doubt for a second that I also think some of these guys should be in gaol.

declanx

Drop the four CHC directors in the Joy, but unlikely to happen. The language of the central bank report said "unauthorised and improper transactions" it did not say illegal transactions. Maybe an important point in the courts or prevent the DPP going ahead with any action.

The Criminal Justice Act 2011 was signed into law on 2/Aug/2011 was aimed at white collar crime, but again it only takes affect from 9/Aug/2011 and CHC went into bust 21/Oct/2011.
So any "crimes" commited between Aug and Oct could be prosecuted.

What about "crimes" commted before 9/Aug/2011?
http://www.mondaq.com/x/148014/White+Collar+Crime+Fraud/Provisions+on+White+Collar+Crime+in+Force