Discussion
This is really what's actually, fundamentally, wrong with this country.
Instead of getting angry, we laugh - but it's not the laughter of genuine comedy, it's the laughter that hides our despair at the utter corruption that is so endemic throughout the construction industry and probably many others too.
White collar crime - hurts no one. Tax avoidance - hurts no one. Contract rigging - hurts no-one. Fraud - hurts no one. All of them widespread and accepted as the norm - "that's the way it is".
We need to change this.
Wrekin is a fraud. It has defrauded the Bank. It has defrauded it's employees, many of whom have probably made financial commitments on the back of their job with a "leading" company. It has defrauded it's competitors - when a company is able to run on other peoples money, obtained by deceit, and be happy with a 1% ish profit margin, how in hell is a properly run, profitable business (remember those?) supposed to compete with that?. It has defrauded it's suppliers, it's sub-contractors. The whole edifice built around the central lie that this company has value, assets that can back it up, real tangible worth.
But it's not just Wrekin's Directors I want to see charged and imprisoned. The auditors who signed off the accounts. a key asset being the mythical Gem of Tanzania which as I understand it, no one has actually ever seen, and the only piece of evidence to support it's worth and existence being a certificate, which, with 2 minutes work on the phone to the supposed issuer of the certificate, a journalist seems to have established as a fake - the Gem dealer having said that A - they were closed and on holiday the day the cert was supposedly issued and B - they would've only commented on the Gem quality and have never provided valuations for any stone.
What the hell were the auditors doing for their, presumably, healthy fee?. They need to go to jail. Negligent at best, complicit at worst.
" I see you list an £11m Ruby as a major asset Mr Wrekin, wow, that must be a biggie, I'd love to see it."
"Sorry Mr Auditor, it's kept in a safety deposit box, it's worth a lot of money you see, but here's a bit of paper that says it's worth every penny, how's that?"
"oh, that'll be fine, I'll just sign off these accounts then we can go to lunch and discuss my fee"
The Bank (RBS, naturally). Whoever approved the loan needs to go to court to explain himself, and if not guilty of a crime should be tried for sheer reckless stupidity. I have a piece of paper here that says I own 92% of the mineral rights of Siberia. Admittedly it's in crayon and suprisingly for a Russian document, is written in English and on a piece of Basildon Bond watermarked paper. I wonder how big a loan RBS would make against that?.
Over the next year, I predict we are going to hear many more stories about companies built on sand, although probably not as bizarre as this, and the failures of these companies are going to hurt many, many people. The knock-on effects of the fraud that will need to be worked through the system from the excesses of the past decade of easy money will blight the life of working people, people who can least afford this burden, for years to come.
I hate it, and as much as I'd like to laugh at this farce, it just produces a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach that might only be quenched with criminal blood.
Instead of getting angry, we laugh - but it's not the laughter of genuine comedy, it's the laughter that hides our despair at the utter corruption that is so endemic throughout the construction industry and probably many others too.
White collar crime - hurts no one. Tax avoidance - hurts no one. Contract rigging - hurts no-one. Fraud - hurts no one. All of them widespread and accepted as the norm - "that's the way it is".
We need to change this.
Wrekin is a fraud. It has defrauded the Bank. It has defrauded it's employees, many of whom have probably made financial commitments on the back of their job with a "leading" company. It has defrauded it's competitors - when a company is able to run on other peoples money, obtained by deceit, and be happy with a 1% ish profit margin, how in hell is a properly run, profitable business (remember those?) supposed to compete with that?. It has defrauded it's suppliers, it's sub-contractors. The whole edifice built around the central lie that this company has value, assets that can back it up, real tangible worth.
But it's not just Wrekin's Directors I want to see charged and imprisoned. The auditors who signed off the accounts. a key asset being the mythical Gem of Tanzania which as I understand it, no one has actually ever seen, and the only piece of evidence to support it's worth and existence being a certificate, which, with 2 minutes work on the phone to the supposed issuer of the certificate, a journalist seems to have established as a fake - the Gem dealer having said that A - they were closed and on holiday the day the cert was supposedly issued and B - they would've only commented on the Gem quality and have never provided valuations for any stone.
What the hell were the auditors doing for their, presumably, healthy fee?. They need to go to jail. Negligent at best, complicit at worst.
" I see you list an £11m Ruby as a major asset Mr Wrekin, wow, that must be a biggie, I'd love to see it."
"Sorry Mr Auditor, it's kept in a safety deposit box, it's worth a lot of money you see, but here's a bit of paper that says it's worth every penny, how's that?"
"oh, that'll be fine, I'll just sign off these accounts then we can go to lunch and discuss my fee"
The Bank (RBS, naturally). Whoever approved the loan needs to go to court to explain himself, and if not guilty of a crime should be tried for sheer reckless stupidity. I have a piece of paper here that says I own 92% of the mineral rights of Siberia. Admittedly it's in crayon and suprisingly for a Russian document, is written in English and on a piece of Basildon Bond watermarked paper. I wonder how big a loan RBS would make against that?.
Over the next year, I predict we are going to hear many more stories about companies built on sand, although probably not as bizarre as this, and the failures of these companies are going to hurt many, many people. The knock-on effects of the fraud that will need to be worked through the system from the excesses of the past decade of easy money will blight the life of working people, people who can least afford this burden, for years to come.
I hate it, and as much as I'd like to laugh at this farce, it just produces a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach that might only be quenched with criminal blood.
Durruti said:
Lots of Stuff
Yup...you are totally correct.But as there is nothing I can do about it.
I'm going to believe the gem isn't mythical, just lost.
I have a contact in casablanca that can get us to the fatman in zanzibar.
From there on we're on our own.
But 11million you say....damn it's worth the risk
boobles said:
PGM said:
Always easy blaming management.
Who else is to blame?Sometimes it seems as if people think that all management are on the take and reap the rewards and the employees are somehow hard done by.
That thinking is what brought new labour to power and look where that has brought us.
I noted a few weeks ago ,that Anthony Worral Thomson, was not prepared to sign a personal guarantee when his bankers made it a condition of further borrowings. He then had the brass neck to appear on TV and berate the bank for "being to blame" for him having to fold most of his restaurants. If he didn't have the confidence to pledge his home against his borrowings, WTF should the bank consider his business a good risk. Let’s all beat the banks up for their real shortcomings, not for making prudent lending decisions.
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