BFCSA Blog

  Mr James Shipton Chairman of Australian Securities & Investments Commission,   Dear Mr Shipton,   Re:  The Collapse of the STERLING NEW LIFE GROUP                                                                                                                                  We are writing to you today to voice our dismay and disapproval of the diabolical way in which ASIC have failed to protect us from the collapse of the above.   ASIC were made aware in 2015 of the problems with this scheme and did nothing to protect vulnerable and older consumers by issuing early vital warnings of the catastrophic financial loss and failing to stop it.    How was this allowed to happen.?  You have to be held responsible for this collapse as you were aware of the problems but you did nothing to warn people not to enter into this arrangement.  If you had we would not be in the situation we are today.   We worked hard to make sure that we...

Dear Mr Chairman   JAMES SHIPTON   The collapse of the STERLING LIFE GROUP-a failure of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. We are victims of the collapse of the STIRLING LIFE GROUP. Since the collapse of the Stirling Life Group we find ourselves in a dire situation with our entire life savings plundered, and now face being homeless in the near future. It is too frightening to contemplate!  My wife has a medical condition known as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). It requires that she undergo regular visits to a Rheumatologist, Cardiologist, Neurologist and Ophthalmologist, and the need for continuous use of medications to balance her condition. Since the collapse of Stirling Life she has endured frequent ‘flare-up’ of her condition, and blood pressure elevation due to stress and worry. Now with our life savings gone we are very worried that we are not able to find the money to assist her...

  Dear Mr Shipton,   As one of the one hundred plus families affected by the recent Sterling collapse, I am writing to let you know of my disgust and loss of faith in my country and the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens.   If you Google ASIC and check out Wikipedia it says;   “ASIC’s role is to enforce and regulate company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors”   Can you therefore Mr Shipton tell me just how you have done that? Because I see nothing has changed during your watch and good honest vulnerable Australians are left struggling in the meantime.   If ASIC had concerns about the Sterling group many months ago then why was nothing put out officially to alarm potential customers?   I realise that ASIC and yourself will most likely crawl under a rock until the heat dies...

Chairman of Australian Securities & Investments Commission 120 Collins Street MELBOURNE   VICTORIA   3000   Dear Mr Shipton   Re.: Collapse of the Sterling Life Group   My mother came to this country in 1975, learned the language and in 6 months was working in her profession. She worked hard all of her life to bring us up and provide the best opportunities this country has to offer. She made sure we loved and respected the Australian way of life, that we were honest, hard-working, law abiding individuals. She has sacrificed much throughout her life here, and most certainly deserves much better than to be robbed of her hard earned money for retirement by unscrupulous individuals, as well as the house which was supposed to be her home until her death.     This, Sir, is NOT the Australian way! It is shameful that your staff, who were aware of the company/ies...

Dear Mrs James Shipton   Re:      Sterling First   I am not a victim of the Sterling first collapse and have no relatives or close friends affected by this.  However, I have listened to the stories on the radio and watched news and current affairs programs on television to understand the plight of those affected by this situation.   The failure of this company has caused and will continue to cause, significant hardship to hundreds of families.  These people were not in this scheme to make a quick buck – they were simply trying to secure a comfortable residence to live in long term.  The people who “invested” in this scheme were not high income earners living a lavish lifestyle – they were typical Australian battlers.    In hindsight, it is quite easy for us all to see that this scheme was doomed to fail sooner or later.  However, these people...

To:The Prime Minister of Australia hon. Scott Morrison, Gross abuse of basic human rights and criminal activity of large number of people including some in public service.   Copies to: department of public prosecutions,   law institute, ASIC, and every other legal body including all the victims of crime and national and international media in letters to the editor.   We the victims of crime committed against us by: unscrupulous business people, the government and legal profession DEMAND that the government of this country immediately engage the service responsible for the upkeep of the LAW AND ORDER in this country, to stop and further prevent the criminal activity started against the large number of elderly law obeying retired citizens.     It all started as a good idea, to give the retired people the opportunity to downsize their property and enable them to use some of the money for whatever needs they desire....

Mr Shipton James   Sir, let me introduce myself, I work as an integrity investigator and human rights abuse observer. Right now I am the victim of gross abuse of basic human rights and criminal activity of two  criminals namely Jones Ron and his son Ryan. The pair have been on the radar of Australian Security and Investment  Commission for number of years and somehow escaped control of this organization to be able to deprive hundreds of retired citizen of their property and life savings, mainly due to total lack of the supervision of the organization responsible for the control of running of the companies registered with ASIC. The events led to very interesting discoveriy that Australia is on top of the list in White collar crime in the  world. Mr . Shipton, does this fact surprise you. The fact is that you are the man in charge of the department...

TO James Shipton,A.S.I.C 120 Collins, MELBOURNE VIC 3000   Dear Sir,, I am one of the victims of your failure to stop the criminals under the umbrella of Sterling first.ROBBING us of income and savings,so now we have the life of homeless people.This  is a crimeagainst humanity that you and your organisation committed,knowing that the companies registered with A.S.I.C,had a history of criminal activities for many years.Let me tell you James Shipton in the country where I was born they usedto hang criminals,but sasdly wedont do that in this xountry,so rhat authorities will have to keep you alive insecurity for your protection,since even the hardeened criminals have higher moral standards than you. My wife  is now on medication to treat her depression that is having a dangerous effect on her life,and if something happens to her health,I consider it my duty to see that you and the rest of the negligent...

Mr Shipton,   At what stage in your life did your conscience take leave? How do you sleep at night? And do you have enough room at your house to accommodate ALL Stirling New Life tenants/investors that have lost everything and are facing homelessness?   Surely elderly people left in such an abhorrent circumstance is something you find unforgiveable and as a human being would take necessary steps to rectify immediately! It is apparent taking action and doing the right thing is a foreign concept to the ASIC but today would be a good time to start!   My parents worked hard their entire lives, paid their taxes, abided by laws, treated people with respect and decency, and at retirement age face homelessness and ruin, a situation which was avoidable had the ASIC done its job correctly! My parents are intelligent people who would not involve themselves in a scheme had...

Dear Mr Shipton The collapse of the STERLING LIFE GROUP-a failure of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. We are victims of the collapse of the STIRLING LIFE GROUP. Since the collapse of the Stirling Life Group we find ourselves in a dire situation with our entire life savings plundered, and now face being homeless in the near future. It is too frightening to contemplate!  My wife has a medical condition known as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). It requires that she undergo regular visits to a Rheumatologist, Cardiologist, Neurologist and Ophthalmologist, and the need for continuous use of medications to balance her condition. Since the collapse of Stirling Life she has endured frequent ‘flare-up’ of her condition, and blood pressure elevation due to stress and worry. Now with our life savings gone we are very worried that we are not able to find the money to assist her condition.    The...

Dear Mr James Shipton,  (ex Goldman Sachs)   The Collapse of the STERLING LIFE GROUP - A Failure of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and a lack of action to warn consumers, and not shutting  down this operation and allowing more people to become victims.   This is an urgent demand for compensation from ASIC of $26 million within 8 weeks due to what we believe was a regulatory negligence which resulted in my myself along with another 100 retirees losing their life savings to a company which ASIC already knew would likely fail. Such was the nature of the company setup the failure will also mean that rents will not be paid and all 101 of us will most certainly be issued with breach notices and asked to vacate our premises. As a result our money is gone, where we live is untenable and we are all over 65....

Chairman of ASIC   RE:  STERLING NEW LIFE –    We are writing to you in regards as victims of Sterling New Life.  We had numerous phone calls and emails from ASIC via Michael Darch . In all speaking and emails Michael assured us our money was safe and in trust.  This was a blatant lie.  ASIC was aware that the company was Going under as far back as 2015.   Why did ASIC not act as soon as they were aware of the problems thus leaving all of us victims involved broke and in many Cases homeless.  ASIC was not doing their job and just swept it under the carpet just hoping that the problem would go away.  All the allocated funding you receive a Year to ensure that dealings like this are thoroughly investigated especially when you were aware that Ray and Ryan Jones , Simon Bell had been in...

23 June 2019   Mr James Shipton Chairman of Australian Securities and Investments Commission 120 Collins Street MELBOURNE  VIC  3000   Dear Mr Shipton I am writing to you on behalf of my father, who was duped into the scam investment of the now defunct Sterling Life Group by way of signing up to a 40-year rental lease (which I found out recently is a sub-lease) on the property he currently resides.  My father is 83 years of age and lost his wife, my step-mother, just a few months back.  Therefore, not only is he grieving over the loss of his wife of 30+ years, but on top of that, has now been placed in a massively stressful financial situation which is taking its toll on his health, having total uncertainty, financially and residentially, as to his future. I will expect that you, as Head of ASIC, will read this letter...

The collapse of Sterling Life Group – Failure of ASIC to warn potential clients of the likelihood of failure.   Dear Mr James Shipton, Further to the support and correspondence from Denise Brailey – President of BFCSA (Inc) Banking and Finance Consumers Support Association dated 25th June 2019. I wish to explain the situation, I and 100 extra retirees and pensioners face, and the events leading up to my accepting a property with Sterling Life lease.  The pain and struggle is real.  We are not numbers but real people who have lost their life savings, and potentially the roof over our heads, through no fault of our own. I am a 77yr old widow and realised my family home and yard was too big for me to maintain, so I began weighing up the options of moving into a retirement village or a suitable alternative. It was in November 2016, where...

Dear Mr Shipton   Collapse of Sterling First Group   We bought a life lease on an apartment in Maylands in September, 2018 which cost us a total of 280,000.00.  In May, 2019 the company apparently went into voluntary administration and is now being liquidated. We understand that ASIC had already stopped Sterling selling a certain product by June, 2018 which was about 4 months before we entered into this arrangement; they apparently tried to revamp their system and sold us another product.  If we had known that ASIC had been investigating the Sterling Life Group we would not have entered into a life lease. Within 7 months we had lost all the money we put into the Sterling Group. ASIC was aware of the problems with Sterling First, but they never intervened and stopped ordinary hard working Australians entering into what we think was a dodgy deal. This has had...

  Dear Mr Shipton       RE: “Investment” in collapsed Sterling First Group of companies. ASIC negligence -Sterling First under ASIC investigations kept quiet.     I am a single mother of 2, 58 years old, who migrated to Australia in 1984 and worked, paid taxes all these years in this country.   In 2016 I came across Sterling First offer of investments in their various propositions and schemes. At that time, having lost work after 30+ years with the same firm, I was looking for a new job with not much luck, was vulnerable and desperately wanted to improve my cash flow. My house was nearly paid off and I had access to equity. After numerous meetings and familiarising myself with presented documents on the company’s position, I have decided to use my equity money to invest. That was supposed to be only for a short term until I...

Dear Mr Shipton,                                                                                                                27/6/2019 I am one of the pensioners that has lost everything through the Stirling First collapse. As the chairman of ASIC can you explain to me how you could let Stirling carry on selling their lies and deceit? ASIC have been investigating Stirling since late 2016 but had not said a word. Alarm bells must have been ringing. I have lost $315000 plus $10000 which was supposed to be shares that were to be listed on the ASX. That never eventuated. What where you officers do during this time. Sitting on their hands. Really Mr Shipton with the resources and power ASIC have at their disposal scams like these should be stopped from ever seeing the light of day. ASIC to me seem like a toothless tiger. At 69 it is too late to start over again. Thank God we have Denise Brailey on our side. Mr Shipton...

Dear Mr Shipton   I would like to draw your attention to the debacle named Stirling New Life, (STIRLING NEW NIGHTMARE) comes to mind and would be more appropriate.  In 2017, a time when I suffered 3 heart attacks, we decided to downsize and find a more secure home where we could spend our remaining years in comfort safe with the knowledge that if I died first my wife would be in a safe place, at ease and comfortable.  We engaged several real estate agents to help us, however, the model shown to us by Stirling New Life where we were able to choose from a number of homes,  appealed to us because it allowed us to do a long term lease and retain our money in a trust fund which pooled with other lease holders paid all the rent and rates etc; We didn’t go into this blindly, as we...

Dear Mr Shipton   Re: The Sterling Life Group collapse   I am writing to you to express my anger, disappointment pain and suffering that has been brought about by the collapse of the Sterling Group and the abysmal failure of ASIC to protect consumers and their hard-earned assets.   My husband and I paid for a 40-year Sterling New Life lease in October 2017 expecting to see out our remaining years in a very secure unit in Mandurah. We thought that this money was placed in a trust but now it appears that it was more of a Ponzi scheme. We also invested $75,000 in units in late 2018 which were supposedly going to be listed on the ASX within weeks. This never happened and again Ponzi scheme springs to mind. We have worked hard all our lives and just wanted to enjoy our retirement with a few simple pleasures...

Mr Shipton We are a couple in our retirement years who are now facing the prospect of homelessness and financial ruin. With trust we placed our life savings into Sterling NewLife via Silverlink investments. The situation we are now in was avoidable had ASIC done their job properly having been given notice and failing to act on our behalf and allowing ourselves and many others to invest as late as 2018. We have worked our entire life, paid our taxes and lived within the law of the land. Due to the negligence of ASIC we are in this unacceptable and horrendous situation which has caused us such stress that we have had to seek medical advice. We are facing homelessness for placing our faith and  trust in the protection we should of been given by ASIC, Therefore ASIC must be held accountable and rectify their failure to do the job correctly....