This'll be my only comment on this matter. I don't make a habit of commenting on forums, or blogs for that matter, because a) they generally descend into vitriolic abuse, and b) I have a job to do that generally has me writing in other areas.
As for Dolaras' probing questions amid her name-calling, the answer is e) none of the above.
The business affairs of Mr Serepisos are an obviously important story. The Phoenix angle is, from my perspective, mere colour. The Dominion Post obviously talks it up as an angle, but it�s peripheral for me.
Were Century City to go under it is highly likely second-tier lenders (and unsecured creditors) will lose a packet, and having $230m of Wellington real estate being put on the market in a liquidation fire sale would have serious ramifications for the city's property market.
The consequences are potentially huge, and if Mr Serepisos is relying on WGA to save him from the IRD I can�t ignore the evidence clearly suggesting he�s been scammed and the game is up and outline what will happen next.
More broadly, it appears WGA have been running a global scam for some years and I doubt Mr Serepisos is the only New Zealand victim (Allan Crafar stumped up 27,000GBP, but didn't far along their process).
There's a public interest in exposing this - preventing others forking out money to Swiss bank accounts - and while I'm glad to have broken this story, it�s rapidly grown out of my hands.
Australian and Spanish media are now onto the case, and I hear the Wall Street Journal's taken an interest. I'll push it as far as I'm able, but I'm just one guy with a phone working for a New Zealand business weekly.
And, on a final note, the forums here are generally (with the recent exception of personal abuse directed towards myself) highly entertaining.
Cheers,
Matt
mnippert@nbr.co.nz
021 193 1011
Gidday Matt, thanks for posting. Wow, I could just about believe all this bullsh*t if it wasn't for everything else you have ever written in relation to Terry Serepisos in the NBR and on Twitter.
First of all, you're a hypocrite. You say you don't normally comment on forums or blogs but you actually wrote a piece for the NBR on 22 Feb titled "Phoenix fans doubtful WGA will save Terry" that quoted people on this forum. That was just lazy, shoddy journalism and basically, if you live by the sword you die by the sword. If you're going to quote people from here and send tweets directed at Yellow Fever then sorry, but people will talk about you here.
Second, you try to placate us with the explanation that "the business affairs of Mr Serepisos are an obviously important story". Well yes, they are, for many reasons. But it's the completely unbalanced and unprofessional way that you've approached it that pisses me off.
You tweeted this on 17 Nov last year: "As one of many purveyors of journalistic smack, I consider Serepisos a tall poppy who's ripe for lopping". There's your real agenda, in a tweet that manages to be self-aggrandising, vindictive and unprofessional all at the same time. God I love Twitter. The number of people who manage to make complete dicks of themselves on there is just amazing.
Why don't you just be honest? You hate Terry Serepisos, you want to see him go down regardless of the damage, and everything else about the story (WGA, the Phoenix) is just window-dressing.
By the way, you call out Doloras for personal abuse and not me? I photoshopped a picture of a nipple onto your face ffs! I believe I deserve acknowledgement for that.
"Phoenix till they lose"
