Legal firm Slater & Gordon has labelled the deed of company arrangement (DOCA) offered by Storm Financial (Storm) to its former clients as ridiculous and has advised their clients to reject the offer.
The DOCA is merely a way for Storm founder Emmanuel Cassimatis to avoid liability for the collapse of the group, Slater & Gordon practice group leader Damien Scatinni told InvestorDaily.
"I support the liquidation. The deed of company arrangement put up by Cassimatis is ridiculous," Scatinni said.
"It's an attempt by the founders of Storm to protect their own tail. So it's not something that we could possibly recommend to our clients.
"Anyone that I've spoken with knows that they are in this situation because they trusted Cassimatis once with their future. Why would they do it again?"
Storm administrator Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants knocked back Storm's DOCA yesterday, recommending instead the company be placed into liquidation.
If Storm was to be placed in liquidation, such a move would not affect Slater & Gordon from progressing with legal actions against the advisory group or its founders, Scatinni said.
"We're progressing down the path. We're not ready to file today, but we're ready in due course," he said.
Slater & Gordon are acting on behalf of more than 1000 former Storm clients.
