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Source: Breakfast -
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Fraud investigators are warning Kiwi investors to be on the lookout for ponzi scamming schemes similar to the one run by disgraced ASB employee Stephen Versalko.
The former investment advisor stole nearly $18 million and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) says it is not the only case it is investigating.
Former ASB investment banker Stephen Versalko was sentenced to at least four years in jail for stealing almost $18 million from investors over nine years.
SFO director Adam Feeley told TV ONE's Breakfast programme that Versalko went to great efforts to cover his trail and was a trusted, long-term employee for the ASB.
Feeley says the SFO is investigating ponzi schemes "all the time" in New Zealand.
"It is a terrible cliche but if the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. You simply can't make money with 50% returns. No matter how convincing somebody is....those kind of returns just do not exist in real life," warns Feeley.
"To be able to get away with this sort of thing you have to make it so that other people don't enquire into the status of their bank account. Now I don't think that there's many people who would be in that situation," says Feeley.
Feeley also believes faith in the protection offered by banks is
enough.
"If you've got someone operating independently there may not be the
same checks. The computers of major banks are a saviour in this
regard," he says.
The SFO director says investors should take lessons from this case to be wary and look for warning signs.
He highlights those major warning signs as clients being instructed to deal with one banker only, being encouraged to always re-invest and being promised returns that are much higher than a bank would typically offer.
The ASB says it has upgraded security so ponzi schemes like Versalko's don't happen again.
The bank says it will also repay the money he stole.
