Gerard Ryle

I’ve decided to do a little reverse investigation using this blog. That’s where I have information to do with Firepower but I don’t know what it means, or if it is even significant. So I would like whoever is reading this for a little help. If you have the answer, please email me using the contact address provided by this website/blog.

During my research for the book I was lucky enough to acquire thousands of documents, most of which I poured over several times trying to piece the best possible picture together. Several of those documents were different versions of the Firepower shareholder register. I have little intention of publishing this register – though I suspect it would be of interest – because I feel that most of the people and companies on it are innocent parties. They were simply investors who were stung. But the various registers indicate that not everyone paid for their shares. And some who did, paid very little. Again, not that there was necessarily anything wrong with that.

So here goes my first fishing line. Can anyone shed light on who these shareholders are? Yet again, I am not suggesting these entities have done anything wrong – I’m just curious:

“Rathbone Trustees Jersey Limited for the Mayfair Trust”

“Lionel Finance Inc”

“Fullmark Capital Ltd”

The founding directors of the ASX-listed Perth property manager Aspen Group have been drawn into the mess left by Firepower, after their financial services business licensed one of the promoters of the failed fuel technology company, according to Jonathan Barrett of the WA Business News. Aspen directors Angelo Del Borrello and Gavin Hawkins owned the financial services business, Sagecorp, but it has since been wound-up. The report reads that there are three Firepower investors pursuing Sagecorp and/or Messrs Del Borrello and Hawkins in a bid to retrieve their money. Two investors have taken the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, while a third is in the Supreme Court. They are able to pursue the claims because they put Sagecorp on notice just before its QBE insurance ran out in mid 2008. Litigation funder IMF also considered taking action against Sagecorp – representing more than 300 investors who deposited more than $35 million into Firepower – but told WA Business News it was unable to proceed because it put Sagecorp on notice after the QBE insurance had run out.

In a statement sent to WA Business News, Del Borrello and Hawkins said Sagecorp always took its legal and governance obligations seriously, and that when an adviser was found to be acting inappropriately, the company took immediate action. WA Business News is a subscriber website, so you need to go here to read on.