EcoHouse: Questions we must ask and people I detest.

In the Singapore Armed Forces, we have a saying that "TSR is written in blood."

TSR stands for Training Safety Regulations, if I remember correctly. The regulations are written in blood because new regulations are introduced or existing ones improved after some fatal accidents. Unfortunate, I know, but being humans, a failing that we have is a feeling of invincibility until bad things happen to us.

This is why some friends and fellow bloggers feel that the best way for people to learn is through experience, falling down and picking themselves up again. OK, not everyone is able to pick themselves up again which is why I think fall prevention is still the way to go.

Having said this, there is a camp that believes no amount of education is going to work if people are not willing to listen or if they choose not to believe. Fair enough.

How many investment scams have been exposed? How many people have been scammed? How many millions of dollars have been spirited away? How many confidence tricksters have been convicted and put behind bars?

Surprisingly, many people are still falling victim to scams.

Hundreds of investors here, who ploughed millions of dollars into the hands of a developer claiming to be working with the Brazilian government on a social housing programme, were left fearing the worst after the Brazilian Embassy said on Thursday (Aug 14) that its government had no dealings with the company.

EcoHouse, which has abruptly shut down its Suntec offices, is neither affiliated with the Brazilian national housing programme nor registered as a partner of its state-owned bank.

On its website, EcoHouse claims that it was chosen by the Brazilian government as “the only UK company to date officially authorised to build developments under Minha Casa, Minha Vida”, which aims to provide three million homes for the country’s growing middle class.

The company was founded in 2009 by Mr Anthony Armstrong Emery. Various media reports have put the number of Singapore investors in EcoHouse projects at between 800 and 1,500. Up to S$70 million had reportedly been ploughed into three housing projects.

Some investors have begun legal action against EcoHouse to recover their capital investments, which amounted to a minimum of £23,000 (S$47,810) per unit.

EcoHouse had promised a 20 per cent fixed rate of return for a 12-month investment contract, but many investors said they have not received their returns or their capital despite their contracts reaching maturity.

Source: CNA

I feel very sad for these people who have lost their money and I would like to remind everyone that as investors for income, we must always ask the questions that matter. See related post #1 below.

I really detest people who have no qualms about cheating others of their hard earned money. I also detest those who work for them knowing well what they are doing and I do know of someone who was involved in one of those gold investment scams. Just because we know how something works and that we can make money from it does not mean that we should do it. To say nothing of legality, what about ethics?

The Chinese people have a saying:

君子爱财取之有道
"A righteous man makes money in righteous ways."

Related posts:
1. EcoHouse Group placed on IAL.
2. Just like taking candy from a baby.

The mystery of the extra money in my account.

I did an audit on my investment portfolio because of a discrepancy. There seemed to be an extra $2,200 which was deposited into my savings account. OK, I guess when there is more money, it is a "good" discrepancy to have but I don't like not knowing where the money is from.

As I am very much a pen and paper person and all my trading and income records are hand-written, it took me a while to flip through them as I checked line by line. Strangely, everything seemed correct.


Then, I dug out the Tax Invoices sent to me by my broker and checked them against my records. After going back some 12 months, I found the problem.

I am happy to say that the money, all $2,200 of it, is legitimately mine. Whew!

So, what was the matter?

I actually added to my long position in SPH last year in August when its share price plunged after the counter went XD (with regards to the Special Dividend of 18c per share). 

I got 10 lots at $4.03 per share. Some of you might have increased exposure too as SPH's share price went on to touch a low of $3.91 back then. Now, I remember a joke on my FB wall about how buying a few bids lower than AK's price can't be wrong. Good lesson for me. LOL.

Of course, these shares were not entitled to the special dividend and, somehow, I forgot about making an entry in my own records.

Since then, SPH has paid dividend twice, 15c a share towards the end of last year and 7c a share earlier this year. That makes 22c a share and explains the mysterious "extra" money of $2,200.

The feeling is similar to discovering a stray $5 note in my piggy bank when I was a boy months after emptying piggy of all the coins to buy a toy I was saving up for.

Related posts:
1. When to buy SPH's stock?
2. Tea with Mike: An analysis of SPH.