Exactly What would make a successful poker pro risk every thing by getting involved with a massive, multimillion dollar bank fraud and Ponzi scheme plot? That is the question many are now asking regarding poker that is australian Bill Jordanou, who is under research by Victoria police for his so-called role in a bank fraud that went on for years, according to reports.

While information on the reported Ponzi scheme are sparse, the $70 million bank fraud operation was reportedly carried out with Jordanou’s business partner, Robert Zaia, 45. The 2 allegedly ensnared Zaia’s wealthy clients, via their accountancy company Zaia Arthur & Associates, into an undetailed Ponzi scheme, while simultaneously forging bank papers to secure loans, at times in Zaia’s consumers’ names, that they then comingled with home and development loans they also received from the bank, for projects that either never existed or had been never started.

Bank Holds Victims Hostage

But the caper gets even crazier from right here. The bank useful for all these transactions was Australia’s largest: Commonwealth Bank. That bank happens to be keeping Zaia’s allegedly scammed customers hostage over the loans secured within their names, without their authorization. Certainly one of these clients that are former Rita Klapanis, says Commonwealth served her with a $6 million demand note, even though she just heard about the loan’s existence when contacted by Commonwealth for repayment, and immediately contacted the authorities.

Undeterred, apparently, by the logic here, Commonwealth continues to be going after Ms. Klapanis’ Toorak home, and even charging her interest that is ongoing on loan at the reported rate of $1,135 per day. Ms. Klapanis has now filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court, saying this woman is maybe not accountable for a loan fraudulently obtained, without her authorization, in her name. Her wealthy family was indeed one of Zaia Arthur & Associates’ financial consumers.

Once again, there are no information on the reported Ponzi scheme, or how much any clients were supposedly defrauded or what was promised; only that 20 such clients that are well-to-do involved.

Also named within the Supreme Court affidavit are an additional eight alleged victims of the accounting firm, which Ms. Klapanis is now suing for damages in what is called a ‘conspiracy’ in the case. Other victims are expected to follow suit shortly with legal action.

Bank Didn’t Check Loan Forms

And the tentacles of the octopus that is financial on coming; a house developer who claims to possess lost millions is now accusing Commonwealth of gross negligence.

‘The bank failed to check always the validity of tax returns or whether they had been filed, they did not always check employment representations that were made, they did not undertake valuations on the properties become guaranteed. They accepted anything completed regarding the loan application without question,’ the attorney for the developer said.

If only those bankers could be got by us working for the IRS.

Commonwealth, not surprisingly, isn’t saying an expressed word about any from it. But it’s maybe not the time that is first ethics have actually come under scrutiny; early in the day in 2010, it was reported that the bank had covered up major misconduct from within its own economic planning division, which allegedly place thousands of clients’ savings at danger.

The Securities that is australian and Commission (ASIC) subsequently banned seven of the bank’s financial planners, and forced Commonwealth to shell out tens of millions in damages towards the victims.

And as if that weren’t enough warm water to maintain, it now appears Commonwealth earned a worldwide security firm, whose job it was to conduct undercover surveillance on Michael Fraser, a prominent anti-banking lobbyist, too as various other politicians ( not, we are assured, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. Hey, we must amuse ourselves here sometimes). The spying that is secret National Senator from brand New South Wales John Williams, whom is involved in a Senate inquiry into the ASIC’s own conduct after bringing the Commonwealth scandal to light.

Good lord, all we need are Anthony and Cleopatra to make this any more dramatic.

Jordanou has made 15 career poker competition cashes, including taking 3rd for $300,000 in the 2010 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge in Melbourne.

The investigation that is two-year expected to be finished by the end of the year.

PONZI SCHEMES:

Named for early 20th century scammer Charles Ponzi, these schemes actually first started long before he lent his notorious name to them. The goal of these financial scams is for the perpetrator to collect vast sums of cash considering insanely ambitious promises of riches to the ‘investors,’ after that the instigator takes off, with everybody else’s cash in tow.

Typically, Ponzi schemes include a few predictable elements. The first is a far-above-average promised rate of return on investments, along with a seemingly plausible description of how these rates will be achieved; frequently, the scammer will say they either have insider information, or are engaged in an elite investment opportunity perhaps not available to the general public.

Next, the perp makes sure that a few of the initial investors do certainly have the promised returns, to create buzz and credibility, and demonstrably to bring in yet more investors, who are needed to make the scheme profitable to its creator. However, subsequent investors will not be so lucky, and are typically left completely wiped out once they perhaps not only receive no returns, but lose all their investment that is initial as.

Bernie Madoff, of course, is probably the most infamous Ponzi schemer in history. After defrauding everyone from elite nonprofit organizations to celebrities to banking institutions out of more than $50 billion over the course of decades, he is now serving what is tantamount to a life phrase. Their ripoffs left lots of his investors penniless, including countless citizens that are senior.

Whether an actual ponzi scheme had been allegedly committed by Jordanou and Zaia is not entirely clear from the reports released so far; but if a scheme was indeed perpetrated on Zaia’s rich accounting clients, it most likely left a financial Cat 5 hurricane in its wake.