BT report 2
According to Goldring the whole business is based on a trigger event that can never happen. Take concorde village.
It will never get planning permission
If you dump it today on the open market the site is worth 3M pounds or less and you can only do that if everyone votes in favour in which case they are happy.
Brilliant strategy. You cant prove its a scam until a trigger event that can never happen.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,412658,00.html
SINGAPORE) Damning allegations made by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in its investigation report on Profitable Plots provoked a strong response from the company, which has called the report 'wrong and/or inaccurate'.
A CAD investigation report dated October 12, that was submitted as evidence in the proceedings, did not put the company in such a flattering light.
Among other things, the CAD report said that Profitable Plots was insolvent and that there were doubts as to whether Profitable Plots and its related companies could continue as a going concern as there was a net shareholders' deficit position of $21.9 million.
Referring to some of Profitable Plots' investment schemes, the CAD noted that these schemes were described as financing arrangements under the company's revenue recognition policy and that the proceeds from the sale of such plots were not recognised as revenue and were treated as liabilities.
It noted that, for the audited financial statements for FY2008, the liabilities arising from such financing arrangements amounted to $40.2 million, which exceeded Profitable Plots' revenue from the sale of standard plots amounting to $32.8 million.
The CAD said this inability to meet its obligations - and a collective loss of $25.8 million in FY2009 for Profitable Plots and its related companies - gave it reason to believe that the company intended to defraud its clients through its investment schemes. In addition, it pointed out, the company's directors had benefited from the scheme as their reported remuneration in FY2008 and FY2009 was $4.4 million and $4.2 million, respectively.
Profitable Plots director Tim Goldring, in his affidavit, said that CAD's suggestion that the company was unable to meet its liabilities is misleading. He said the company is only liable to pay its clients when a trigger event (which is different in each scheme and can range from planning permission being obtained for a site to a site being sold) occurs in respect of that client's product.
He said, even if these events were to occur, the proceeds from the sale of the sites would be more than enough to cover the liability. 'Therefore, the assertion that the company is insolvent is inaccurate.'
Mr Goldring also said that the services of the company's auditors, YC Foo & Co, were terminated for a similar reason - because they could not understand the company's products, did not understand that the company's liabilities arose only when a trigger event occurred and had applied the wrong accounting principles.
He said the CAD should not have relied on the draft audit report of the company's FY2009 financials, as the company had not approved the report. Instead, he said, the CAD ought to have verified the statements with the company before freezing its bank accounts.
Responding to the CAD's allegation that the company's schemes were introduced to defraud its clients, Mr Goldring said that every client is required to go through a quality assurance form with its staff, before buying a product, to ensure that he understands the nature of the product. 'Obviously this is not cheating,' he said.
The CAD said, in its report, that it had received a total of 106 complaints against Profitable Plots from individuals who invested about $9.5 million. Some investors have written to BT to complain about not having been paid on their investments, which has left them stranded.
The CAD first began its investigations in August. So far, no charges have been levied against Profitable Plots or its directors. The High Court on Tuesday ordered the CAD to update the court on Dec 9 on the status of its probe and to provide further particulars of the nature of any alleged wrongdoing.