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About sjilani

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  1. Why are they not being prosecuted for fraud? Many of them were breaking the rules not following them.
  2. Am assuming TaxAbuser made up this quote as there is no original post that matches it? An interesting thing about this competition was that the ticket counter disappeared for the last 4/5 weeks on the run up to the draw. Then an IT bod wins the first flat - I can only hope Stephen Lakey doesn't happen to work for one of the companies that developed their system - and the ticket counter suddenly reappears?
  3. £40,000 a year as her Commons adviser Does he get paid anything for being incredibly stupid?
  4. Property auctions can cost you whether or not you succeed. But that is down to the individual - do you get a survey, legal advice, mortgage etc. before you bid or do you risk it (in which case it could cost you more than you planned if you win)? The auctioneer typically doesn't pocket this money so your point is still valid. Interestingly, I read somewhere that even these very 'reputable' auctions have people planted in with the bidders, who place bids when things are a bit slow, in an effort to edge the final price over the reserve. One would assume this would be easier to do for sweepo or madbid - an artificial bidder placing a bid just before the time expires? These schemes remind me of the penny fall on Brighton Pier - you keep popping in another 'penny' because you can see a stack that is just about to tumble.
  5. Not sure if this BBC article is already on this thread? You may find the video worth watching it features Sweepo. Penny web auctions under scrutiny
  6. Absolutely agree - I am surprised it's not being investigated.
  7. One of our local estate agents (the nastiest ones in the area) has been putting flyers through all the doors with a pictures of properties they have sold (mostly in 2007) stating how they have been 'bucking the trend' and why this is great time to sell or even better - buy. They think that if they say it often enough people will actually believe it. Recognise it as propaganda and a sign of desperation. (In reality, people around here aren't selling or buying unless they have absolutely no choice and this EA has had to close down 3 of their offices.)
  8. I would steer clear of bullionvault. Don't ask, just be (very very) careful. Visit www.goldline.co.uk. Baird & Co. are members of the London Bullion Market Association and have been around for decades. very reputable. You can buy gold bars and coins and take physical delivery or you can have it stored for you in allocated or unallocated accounts. When I was investigating this for my parents I spent two weeks researching various options including the Australian mint, Baird & Co seemed the best option. Chards, as Mr Elk suggested, is also good and sells coins and bars. Their website is www.taxfreegold.co.uk. Good luck.
  9. I agree murder isn't about faith but power and hatred. The powerful, greedy for more power, feed off the hatred in the hearts of the stupid and the ignorant to achieve their own ends.
  10. I actually think this indicates they don't believe they will be re-elected. This is their version of scuttling the boat before they jump overboard.
  11. It has to be the developer, anyone else would have to be convinced that he/she would be able to find another person with more money than sense to be able to resell it. How likely is that? In property auctions, it is not unknown for some auction houses to plant dummy bidders to try to edge the bids over the reserve price. I know of one seller who approached the auction house to say they would accept the highest bid even though their reserve had not been met, only to be told it wasn't a real bid.
  12. Did I read somewhere there was big surge in the sale of safes? So people may be holding on to bank notes? They may also be buying precious metals? There is very little trust in the system, so if there is no point in buying bricks and mortar, I suspect people will be looking for other tangible options?
  13. I am not sure if the additional enticement is worth the risk. Isn't Icici an Indian bank? The first banking scandal I am able to recall is BCCI - wasn't that also foreign owned?
  14. It's a sign of desperation. Yesterday a friend sent me an update from an estate agent in her area... "Stephenson James Fancy are currently receiving a surge of enquiries following yesterday’s record announcement on interest rates. Traffic to their website Jamesfancy.com and to Rightmove jumped immediately the rate cut was slashed by a full 1.5% to 3% - the lowest level for 53 years. Rightmove traffic increased by 20% between 1pm – 2pm yesterday compared to the same period last week and e-mail leads to estate agents via the site jumped to 11.3% over the same period."
  15. I think, over the last few decades, the German state pension and overall care for the elderly has been better than in the UK. Also, a key aspect of being an elderly home owner in the UK is the Government's ability to use your home to fund your care if you have to be institutionalised. Maybe, instead of property, shares or pensions, the answer is to buy a little gold each month ? Watch out for accounts offering unallocated (you don't actually own any specific gold bars) accounts. - There's one strange company I can think of you should steer clear of. - If you buy from a credible company (if in the UK look for someone who is a member of the London Bullion Market Association) they will store the gold for you and sell it as and when you need to cash it in. You don't have all the tax perks of a pension (and possibly not all the costs and losses) - but there is no VAT on investment gold?
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