Illegal Wattle scheme resurfaces

The Wattle scheme that robbed nearly 3,000 Australians of $200 million has reappeared, with a lawyer in Britain making bogus claims that he has recovered some of the lost money.

Investment lawyer Richard Briggs spam e-mailed Australians offering them access to a pool of $64 million in supposed lost funds associated with the infamous Ponzi scheme shut down by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 1998.

In the e-mail Briggs told unsuspecting people the recovered money was stored in London and Panama bank accounts, which they could access by paying various upfront fees or handing over details of their own bank accounts.

The liquidators appointed by the courts to take control of the scheme’s assets have confirmed to ASIC that no such money existed.

“To suggest that there’s money from Wattle located offshore is a cruel hoax against those who lost money and a fraud against anyone who may think they can access these fictitious funds,” ASIC executive director of consumer protection Greg Tanzer said.

“This case is a particularly repellent example of how low fraudsters will sink to exploit others.”

Since the Wattle scheme was shut down in 1998, ASIC has convicted 14 of its promoters.

On May 7, 2001, the scheme’s operator, Geoffrey Dexter, was convicted of multiple fraud charges and jailed for 10 years.

Illegal Ponzi schemes usually promise investors ridiculously high investment returns, supposedly at no risk.

ASIC has encouraged people who can identify and locate Briggs to come forward.