An Irishman who was a key figure in a now collapsed German property investment scheme was given a €1.8m director s loan by Dolphin International Group (Dolphin IG) before he moved to take up a new position at the Dubai- based global investment arm of a Wall Street broker.
Marc Reilly, now CEO of Europe and Asia at J Streicher Global, was one of two Irish directors at Cork-based Dolphin IG.
He and fellow director and shareholder Cormac Smith each obtained loans of €1.8m from the firm in the months before it was placed in voluntary liquidation in October 2019, according to company documents seen by the Sunday Independent.
When the Bundoran Open surfing festival and a north Mayo “beer barrel run” in aid of the Samaritans were sponsored by Wall Street firm J Streicher in 2019, the organisers of both events must have been delighted but somewhat surprised at their luck.
A Mayo GAA podcast also received sponsorship from the 111-year-old firm one of just five remaining specialist designated market makers now trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
The sponsorship boost had come about after a number of young business executives with links to the northwest took up senior executive positions at J Streicher Global, the Dubai-based international investment arm of the venerable New York trading firm.
Thousands of British investors lost cash in the German property scheme
Credit: Lorna Milligan
Thousands of British savers have been pushed to the brink of financial ruin after placing their money into a toxic German investment scheme that later collapsed.
More than £1.5bn has been invested in German Property Group, more commonly known as Dolphin Trust, but the firm, which sold loan notes to fund the purchase and renovation of derelict German buildings, filed for bankruptcy last July. The group lured investors with the promise of annual returns of 15pc and said a £100,000 investment would return £60,000 within five years.
However, payments began defaulting in 2018 and British investors now fear their life savings could be lost altogether. The German Property Group Creditors Association, a group of British investors, said £320m of Britons’ cash was invested in the scheme, making it larger than London Capital & Finance, another bond scheme that collapsed owing investors millio
British investors in the German property scheme face huge losses
Financial “experts” have been blamed for tipping wildly risky property investment schemes to their clients, after hundreds of millions of pounds was lost to the collapsed German Property Group.
Dozens of introducers were able to cream off 20pc commission payments by suggesting their customers use such schemes. Many presented themselves as experts despite their businesses being unregulated. Others were approved financial advisers who sold highly risky schemes to clients on the side. Ordinary people who followed their suggestions now have huge black holes in their finances.
About 2,000 British investors have come forward and joined the German Property Group Creditors Association, which was formed by British investors who want their money back. Investors have already collated a list of 60 different introducers in Britain, who they claim lured them into the investments.