Full Circle Investment Group

Lion Property Group or a revamped Full Circle Group? – Here we are again, some 18 months after the submission of my previous review on the Full Circle Group in December 2018. After representations to both the Credit and Investment Ombudsman and the Financial Ombudsman Service, both of which have now been replaced by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, my brother and I were offered $1,300 in compensation. This was based on the commission that Full Circle had earned from brokering an ANZ loan for our purchase of a Docklands investment property in 2012. This $1,300 was offered on the condition that I did not publish any details of my dealings with Full Circle. I found this amount totally inadequate in compensating me for the actual losses I had suffered and rejected this offer. Furthermore, I was not willing to accept being prevented from publishing details of my dealings with the Full Circle Group. Any attempt to deal directly with the Directors had effectively been stonewalled and I was eventually contacted by Full Circles' solicitors who informed me that they would be acting on the Full Circle Directors' behalf. I would have loved the benefit of having a solicitor to act on my behalf, however, I was so financially depleted by what had become the Full Circle nightmare that this was just not affordable.

During the course of the foregoing events, I happened to chance on a promotional video for "Lion Property Group". The Founding Director of Lion introduced a former Director and owner of Full Circle, and another individual, as his business partners. On checking Lion Property Group's business address, I found that it was the exact same address as previously occupied by the Full Circle Group. Another interesting discovery was that Lion Property Group had actually been de-registered at one stage. The Founding Director explained this away by saying that he had purchased the Lion name, effectively as a shelf company, and that potential investors should not be alarmed. Really? Was the use of the Lion name a good idea, considering that any doubt over the de-registration existed at all?

The next videos I viewed were the "testimonials" of potential investors with Lion Property Group. Given my previous dealings with some of the individuals who are now part of the management team of Lion Property Group, I can only hope that they do eventually realise a profit on their investments. 1 of 3 Lion Property Group Founding Directors is in fact a former owner of Full Circle. On the Lion website a very vague reference is made to his association with a "former business" with no reference to Full Circle. Of the 2 Capital Advisory Directors, 1 is a former Full Circle employee. I can only describe his performance while at Full Circle as abysmally woeful. Looking at the Lion website and the 6 members of the management team, any detail of their past professional experience is somewhat vague and nebulous. Reference is made to I as a previous "Executive Vice President of an investment firm" and another as having been "Vice President of Sales at an Australian investment firm". All very interesting, but reference to specific organisations would be more credible.

Referring back to my dealings with the Credit and Investment Ombudsman (CIO), an interesting point is that this Federal Government statutory authority, before it became the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, was actually industry funded. Full Circle and other organisations actually paid a membership subscription to the CIO. I was allocated a case manager and can only describe this case manager's attitude as less than committed from the start. She was keen to emphasise what legislation prevented her from doing rather than concentrating on a positive outcome for my brother and me. After somewhat sporadic communication, she informed me that she was going on leave and asked me to leave phone messages for her on her direct line. She would act on these in due course. 2 months passed and I left several messages. I then rang the CIO general contact number only to be informed that she had in fact resigned 1 month previously.

It is frightening that organisations like Full Circle continue to operate with complete impunity while corporate watchdogs like the the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) appear to be "asleep at the wheel", to coin an often used phrase. I wrote to ASIC only to be informed that, while being aware of my plight, there was nothing they could actually do apart from keeping a record of my representation. They could use this if another individual or organisation was cited for a serious infraction. These statutory authorities have literally become nothing more than a vehicle to enable unscrupulous organisations to continue operating and, should the need arise, change identity to continue. To say I am disillusioned with the whole system would be a huge understatement.

To conclude, I would suggest to anyone who is contemplating a venture into property investment to avoid Lion Property Group like the plague. If you have had the misfortune to be deceived and taken in by them, I can only wish you the best of luck. With no play on words intended, the saying goes a leopard cannot change its spots. I think this is particularly true of the Full Circle transition to Lion Property Group.

Warning! Beware of being trapped in a financial disaster! No star rating! – My son was talked into purchasing a town house being sold by Full Circle through a friend of his. We had a meeting with one of the sales people who told us that it was a great investment and that in time would make it possible to purchase another property and by the time my son retired he would own a portfolio of investment properties. We had another meeting with the manager plus salesman with further glossing over of the property in question as well as fancy brochures and before I knew it my son had put down a deposit with his credit card. I was horrified at how quickly this happened. Until now we weren’t shown any contract of sale. The 145 page sale contract was emailed the next day. I sent it to my solicitor who warned me not to continue because there were many red flags! He found they did not have a real estate license to sell property, there was no section 32, and in the contract it stated that they could add buildings to the block; it already had ten town houses under construction and there was no finishing date. It was on a very busy main road and it backed on a train line and the price quoted was over inflated for the property. It was most fortunate that my son now realised all this and with a lot of trouble; threatening to report them, we managed to get his deposit back. Please beware if you enter into any purchase with this company. They are unscrupulous cowboys. Buyer beware!