Local financial advisers Seagrims have rejected suggestions that the firm received high commissions for recommending Trio capital funds.
The company directed 972 clients with $105 million in investments into the products between September, 2008, and October, 2009.
A federal parliamentary committee has inquired into the collapse of Trio.
Its report says “an issue” with the collapse is the “role of financial advisers”.
“Many investors put money into Trio finances based on advice from financial advisers,” it said. “There are clear ‘regional clusters’ of victims of Trio based on the locality of operations of particular financial advisers including Tarrants in Wollongong, Seagrims in regional South Australia and Paul Gresham on Sydney’s North Shore.
“The committee does not know with certainty why these advisers recommended their clients use Trio products, but the evidence suggests that their recommendations were influenced by the high commissions paid by Trio.”
Chief executive officer of Seagrims, Peter Seagrim, said the comment relating to high commissions was an assumption by the committee and that his firm’s involvement with Trio clients had been on a fee-for-service basis that did not allow for commissions.
He said the “assumption” about high commissions had originated with a Labor MP who is a member of the committee.
Mr Seagrim and his wife Anne-Marie are appealing against bans imposed on them in the wake of the debacle.
They have taken their case to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and a result is likely in July.
He said his company had been targeted by an anonymous internet identity, tomedeluke@gmail.com.
About 60 Port Augusta businesses, government authorities and banks had been sent emails criticizing his company.
“It is backstabbing, based on fantasy,” he said.