WA govt compensation for elderly victims of finance broking scandal

Around 3,000, mostly elderly, victims of Western Australia’s finance brokers scandal have been given a $30 million compensation package from the state government.

Up to $150 million – in some cases, individuals’ life savings – was lost by those investing in pooled mortgage schemes touted by WA finance brokers during the 1990s.

A Royal Commission in 2001 uncovered systemic failures and frauds in WA’s finance and mortgage broking industries from 1994.

Investors later launched a law suit, through litigation funder IMF, against the state government, saying the Finance Brokers’ Supervisory Board failed to protect them from unscrupulous finance brokers. IMF and the state eventually agreed on a $30 million
settlement.

The government will establish a $30 million ex gratia compensation fund
for IMF’s 2,100 clients – individuals as well as couples – as well as all other victims caught up in the finance broking scandal.