SCF bail-out gets much, much murkier

Written By: - Date published: 8:46 pm, September 2nd, 2010 - 14 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war - Tags: ,

From the Herald:

“On Tuesday evening, a Herald source saw Mr Maier on an Air NZ flight leafing through a document which the source was able to identify as an “agreement for sale and purchase to sell South Canterbury Finance Ltd to Permanent Investments Ltd “.

The source said the document indicated a sale price of $2.65 a share, which is equivalent to $1.57 billion – more than the amount Mr Maier yesterday said the company might fetch if sold as a going concern.

Permanent was registered with the Companies Office in early August.”

Hang about. Isn’t this a little too remarkable? Let’s go through the chain of events.

In April, South Canterbury Finance gets a government guarantee it should never have received. The Government fails to exercise proper oversight and kick SCF out of the guarantee when it didn’t meet the conditions.

Richlisters pour money into buying its bonds at a heavily discounted rate – paying 70 cents on the dollar as last as last week.

The Dompost reports it was richlisters pulling their money out of SCF deposits that precipitates the collapse of the company.

The richlisters who bought bonds get paid out at full value, making as much as 42% overnight. SCF CEO Sandy Maier said “A lot of bets in the casino would have paid off today” – but what if the game was rigged?

Meanwhile, we’re being told that the taxpayers stands to lose at least $600 million on the bail-out – we’ll be lucky to get $1.1 billion back to for the $1.77 billion we spent – that loss has mysteriously tripled from the $200 million we were looking at just last Friday.

Now, we learn that on the day of the collapse this mysterious company, Permanent Investments, turns up wanting to buy the company for $1.57 billion, and it has the paper work ready. What a coincidence! it’s almost like they knew it was going to happen.

And what a great offer. Surely the government and the public will jump at the chance to reduce our loss to ‘just’ $200 million while keeping the assets Kiwi-owned.

So, what is this three-week old company that just so happens to be in the market for a one and a half billion finance company at this exact point in time?

A search of the companies office website shows that Permanent Investments is owned by Probatus Investments, a trustee company run by Kensington Swan (the shareholders are all KS lawyers). That’s where the ownership trail ends for now because the trustee company allows the real owners to disguise themselves.

Who knows what is really going on here. But it stinks of more of the rich elite ripping of the rest of us. Whether it’s been an organised plan or just lone sharks attracted by blood in the water, the result is the same: the rich win, we lose.

14 comments on “SCF bail-out gets much, much murkier ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Jum 1
    2 September 2010 at 9:59 pm

    I thought this government was despicable but this latest foray which I know they would have had under-the-counter notice of really scrapes the bottom.

    I wonder what a little check on their so-called ‘blind’ trusts would uncover?

  2. roger nome 2
    2 September 2010 at 10:09 pm

    Hmmmm – smells very fishy. Very sloppy work by such high-level shisters as well! Perhaps Key has to do something like this before he can be admitted to bohemian grove? lol

  3. Gloria 3
    2 September 2010 at 10:50 pm

    Yes Marty

    I’m afraid you are right. Its hard to believe these arsholes are selling us out big time and our media will probably not cover it. After all they know only too well that some journalists have been made redundant and a good job in times like these is hard to come by. Looks like the serious fraud office might be party to some serious fraud.

  4. BLiP 4
    2 September 2010 at 10:59 pm

    Where’s John?

  5. nilats 5
    2 September 2010 at 11:23 pm

    gee guys, are you looking for hair growing on the palms of your hands yet?
    paranoid lefties, always lookin for a right wing conspiracy.
    $1.7B pales into significance on the wastage of the last Labour govt.

    [Though semi-literate as usual, your last sentence is actually much truer than the one you meant to type — r0b]

    • Jenny 5.1
      3 September 2010 at 6:27 am

      Very good.
      Thanks R0B, I needed a laugh.

    • lprent 5.2
      3 September 2010 at 6:58 am

      Hilarious.

      I tend to think that 1.7 billion is significant as well. I also think that nil should take a night course on how to write so other people can get the message. But somehow all of the night school courses have pretty well disappeared, so he will have to remain semi literate. Everyone knows that you read a comment after writing. Because you can always reedit it. But obviously nil isn’t capable of reading the screen.

      Nil indeed

  6. Bill 6
    3 September 2010 at 12:35 am

    As the good book says, ‘One good burning deserves another’ or was that an ‘eye for …whateve….throw in a bit of Greece as an accelerant.

    Nah. Forget all that. Go on pussies. Roll over. Scratchie on the stomach prrrrr!!! We’re all happy.

  7. The Chairman 7
    3 September 2010 at 7:36 am

    Aspiring Asset Management, a PGC shareholder, said in its June newsletter: “We suspect that Torchlight has invested in SCF actually hoping for receivership. By placing itself at the table Torchlight increases the possibility of playing a significant part in any sorting out of SCF should it be wound up.”
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/4090315/PGC-Torchlight-weigh-up-which-assets-to-bid-for

    Chief ex ecutive Sandy Maier said on Tuesday that SCF had increased risky real estate loans after it entered the Government’s scheme that protected investors’ money.
    http://tinyurl.com/2br45qb

  8. travellerev 8
    3 September 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Our leaders never conspire. They do not make deals behind closed doors and rich people got rich because god felt they deserved it and not because they are greedier and tighter than most people.

    You believe that, I’ve got a piece of rainforest slapdap in the middle of the Sahara for sale that might be just what you’re looking for

  9. jbanks 9
    6 September 2010 at 3:39 pm

    More conspiracy nonsense.

    The fact of the matter is that the guarantee scheme meant the Govt. were legally obligated to pay out the investors. And thankfully they did as the collapse would have damaged the economy a lot more than the cost of paying out investors.

    Well done National for protecting our economy.

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