… the Little Super Fund.
Last week ASIC announced the winner of the annual Pie In The Sky award – the Little Super Fund and its trustee, Mr Gerard Karl Little.
Mr Little illegally obtained the super of the members of the Little Super Fund and then pocketed a high commission. Mr Little was subsequently convicted and imprisoned.
Usually targeting people in financial strife such as retrenched workers, promoters of illegal schemes may claim members can withdraw super, or use a self managed fund to pay off debts, make a deposit on a home, or even take a holiday.
As a consequence, victims of these schemes may lose all their super savings or suffer very high fees. In addition, victims can suffer severe tax complications and legal penalties as a result of the fraudulent payments involved with early release schemes. As attractive as it might appear when times are tough, going down this path simply creates more problems.
‘Victims are convinced by these promoters that accessing super is a solution to their money problems. The reality is the promoters are looking for a way to scam people out of their super savings’, Ms Rickard, ASIC’s Senior Executive Leader for Financial Literacy, Consumers and Retail Investors said.
Attempting to gain early access to super is illegal except in very limited hardship circumstances. For more information about scams, illegal early access and other financial information see www.fido.gov.au.
What is the Pie in the Sky Award?
The Pie In The Sky award is given each year to the most outrageous, far-fetched or insidious financial scam. Anyone can nominate a scam for the Pie In The Sky award.
Past winners have included an advanced fee fraud scam that asked people to help a Togo barrister access $17 million from the estate of a man who was supposedly killed in the 2006 Boxing Day Tsunami and the Mercorella Ponzi scheme where South Australian investors lost $76 million.
Article by Christie Lewis
Christie is Practice Manager at Alan Lewis Accountants . Besides accounting, her passion is for all things small business (and blogging, of course). You can contact Christie directly at christie@lewistaxation.com.au.
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