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Mick Gatto flies to Singapore in
search of Opus Prime investors money
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April 8th 2008- Channel Abc news
Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto is flying to Singapore today to try to recover millions of dollars for investors of the failed Melbourne stock broker Opes Prime.
Mr Gatto says his industrial mediation business Arbitrations and Mediations is working with Statewide Securities to recoup losses for a group of anonymous clients. Administrators will brief hundreds of Opes Prime investors, who are collectively owed more than $500 million, today.
Mr Gatto says he will be visiting many offices but Opes Prime will not be one of them because they are looking for the money, "not the company".
Mr Gatto, who escaped jail after pleading self-defence in the killing of an underworld hitman in 2004, says he will not be using violence in his negotiations.
"We never use violence. It's always done amicably and there's no evidence that I've ever used violence ever. I would've been charged in a heartbeat," he said.
He says he just wants to recover as much as possible for investors because history shows that the only winners in these cases are lawyers and the receivers.
"So we're trying to short circuit all that and hopefully get back for the investors as much as we can," he said.
"Obviously we're doing it for a fee for ourselves too. It's what I do for a living. and we're just trying to do the best we can for everyone."
Mr Gatto will fly to Singapore today with a business associate to pursue the Opes Prime money trail, but has declined to reveal who he will be seeing there or who he is representing.
Mr Gatto's private company, Arbitrations & Mediations — which he says makes "problems disappear" — has in the past been engaged to deal with feuds on Melbourne construction sites.
Yesterday, Mr Gatto told The Age: "These Opes Prime clients can take their chances and lose all their money to lawyers and to the receivers, or they can take their chances with me to extract a return on their behalf.
"The proof is in the pudding with me. I solve problems ... It's my way or the highway".
Barrister Nicola Gobbo confirmed that Mr Gatto — the man who shot dead underworld hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in 2004 and was later acquitted of murder on the grounds of self-defence — would be travelling overseas to try to track down money and shares related to Opes Prime.
Asked about Mr Gatto's clients, she said: "Some would be described as business people, if you very loosely used the term 'business people'." A Director of the failed stockbroker Opes Prime has been ordered by a judge not to leave Australia as fresh allegations emerge of manipulation and cover-ups in the lead-up to the firm's dramatic collapse.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission yesterday obtained a Federal Court order forcing Opes Prime director Julian Smith to surrender his passport — days before he had planned to go on a holiday to Fiji.
search of Opus Prime investors money
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-UvS3gXbzog" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
April 8th 2008- Channel Abc news
Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto is flying to Singapore today to try to recover millions of dollars for investors of the failed Melbourne stock broker Opes Prime.
Mr Gatto says his industrial mediation business Arbitrations and Mediations is working with Statewide Securities to recoup losses for a group of anonymous clients. Administrators will brief hundreds of Opes Prime investors, who are collectively owed more than $500 million, today.
Mr Gatto says he will be visiting many offices but Opes Prime will not be one of them because they are looking for the money, "not the company".
Mr Gatto, who escaped jail after pleading self-defence in the killing of an underworld hitman in 2004, says he will not be using violence in his negotiations.
"We never use violence. It's always done amicably and there's no evidence that I've ever used violence ever. I would've been charged in a heartbeat," he said.
He says he just wants to recover as much as possible for investors because history shows that the only winners in these cases are lawyers and the receivers.
"So we're trying to short circuit all that and hopefully get back for the investors as much as we can," he said.
"Obviously we're doing it for a fee for ourselves too. It's what I do for a living. and we're just trying to do the best we can for everyone."
Mr Gatto will fly to Singapore today with a business associate to pursue the Opes Prime money trail, but has declined to reveal who he will be seeing there or who he is representing.
Mr Gatto's private company, Arbitrations & Mediations — which he says makes "problems disappear" — has in the past been engaged to deal with feuds on Melbourne construction sites.
Yesterday, Mr Gatto told The Age: "These Opes Prime clients can take their chances and lose all their money to lawyers and to the receivers, or they can take their chances with me to extract a return on their behalf.
"The proof is in the pudding with me. I solve problems ... It's my way or the highway".
Barrister Nicola Gobbo confirmed that Mr Gatto — the man who shot dead underworld hitman Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in 2004 and was later acquitted of murder on the grounds of self-defence — would be travelling overseas to try to track down money and shares related to Opes Prime.
Asked about Mr Gatto's clients, she said: "Some would be described as business people, if you very loosely used the term 'business people'." A Director of the failed stockbroker Opes Prime has been ordered by a judge not to leave Australia as fresh allegations emerge of manipulation and cover-ups in the lead-up to the firm's dramatic collapse.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission yesterday obtained a Federal Court order forcing Opes Prime director Julian Smith to surrender his passport — days before he had planned to go on a holiday to Fiji.
