Trio Capital fraud victims have been forced to wait longer for their $55 million in government compensation money to be paid out.
ACT Super said on Friday that it has been unable to calculate amount owed to over 5000 victims in four Trio funds because of the “complexity of the exercise.”
The company previously said that it would be August at the earliest before calculations could be completed, but now hopes to finish them before the end of 2011.
“Such an exercise has not been undertaken previously and there was no existing computer software that could manage the calculation process,” ACT Super director Mike Hill said in a letter to investors.
“The acting trustee is mindful of the impact that the delay in finalising the compensation to be paid to each member is having on some members. It understands that its role as a fiduciary is to complete calculations as quickly as possible.
“In this regard, ACT Super is working daily with SuperCorp and Sharyn Long and Associates to progress the calculations.”
ACT Super said that the $55 million had been invested in term deposits earning a market rate of interest and that the interest will be paid to the funds once the amount of compensation has been finalised.
ACT Super was appointed as the acting trustee of Trio’s four super funds in 2009, after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) suspended Trio after it was unable to satisfy the regulator’s concerns regarding the value of super assets and breaches of licence conditions.
The four funds include Astarra Superannuation Plan, Astarra Personal Pension Plan, My Retirement Plan and Employers Federation of New South Wales Superannuation Plan.
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten agreed to compensate fund victims with a $55 million financial assistance package in April.
