A financial planning company being sued for millions by Westpoint investors has denied ever doing business with the disgraced property group.
Quantum Securities, whose non-executive director, JoAnna Fischer, is a former senior executive of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said it was never involved in the sale of Westpoint products.
Law firm Slater and Gordon is suing both Quantum and Masu Financial Management in the NSW Supreme Court on behalf of 82 people who lost $9.5 million in Westpoint’s mezzanine schemes.
Quantum was never involved in the sale of a Westpoint product to any client nor had it provided advice to any of its clients regarding an investment in Westpoint, the company said in a statement.
Slater and Gordon alleges former Quantum authorised representative Andy Chen advised 59 clients to invest around $6.9 million in two Westpoint developments.
But Quantum said it was unaware of Chen’s actions until after the collapse of Westpoint. The company said at the time Chen was also an employee of Investpoint Financial Services, which had been linked to Westpoint.
Chen developed a finely-tuned strategy to target investors from the Chinese community, Slater and Gordon lawyer Steven Lewis said.
“Chen went out of his way to convince members of his community that Westpoint was a good investment, with seven investing just one month before both schemes collapsed,” Lewis said.
He said Chen received commissions of more than 10 per cent by Westpoint and at all times led clients to believe the investments were through Quantum.
Masu Financial Management is being sued on behalf of 23 clients who lost $2.6 million. The firm did not return calls yesterday.
It is the largest lawsuit to date involving financial planners embroiled in the Westpoint collapse. Slater and Gordon is also suing Australia’s largest financial planning group, Professional Investment Services, on behalf of 22 clients who lost $2.2 million.
