A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary.  Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
 

- Albert Einstein

-------- Original Message --------

From: geoff@nzpine.com
To: ruth@netlink.co.nz
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 12:42 AM
Subject: Flat Rock Website

www@host2.rsinternet.com wrote:

This message was posted via the Flat Rock Forest Website Feedback form.

Name: Geoff Smith
Email: geoff@nzpine.com
Phone: +64 4 233 0361
Comments: I have just come across and scanned through your website.  As a New Zealander and as a participant in the New Zealand forest industry (I am an export timber trader) I am aghast at the tale of woe you have been through and I guess continue to go through.

I sincerely hope you will soon get some sort of satisfaction at some time.

Geoff
 

-------- My Response --------

From: Ruth Hatch
To: geoff@nzpine.com
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 12:00 PM
Subject: Flat Rock Website Email

Geoff

I had meant to write you at once and thank you for your mail - but I delayed a day - or two... and - well, I hope you understand how time slips away before you know it.  Anyway, thanks VERY much.  Words of encouragement from any source are very much appreciated.

I just received the following email off the Flat Rock website today:

Name: Paul Newson
Email: pnewson@sterlingnz.co.nz
Phone: 09 300 7755
Comments: From the NBR 3rd May, page 20:  The SFO has hired Robert Fardell QC to represent it in charges laid over the collapse of Flat Rock.

I don't know that this means unitholders will have any chance to receive any money back somewhere down the road (I very much doubt it) but at least something has come out of all this...

I'm glad to know there are honest people in the forest industry - I'll have to say I've seen a number I suspected were of the other kind...

Regards
Ruth Hatch
 

-------- His Response --------

Subject: Re: Flat Rock Website Email
Date: Friday, 3 May 2002 12:52:18 +1200
From: "Geoff Smith" <geoff@nzpine.com>
Reply-To: "Geoff Smith" <geoff@nzpine.com>
To: "Ruth Hatch" <ruth@netlink.co.nz>
References: <3CD1D30B.9050001@netlink.co.nz>

Ruth,

Thanks for the response.  When I read the web site info, I couldn't believe this was being perpetrated by fellow Kiwis.  I can only hope you met enough of us from outside your immediate dramas to enable you not to write us off as a nation.

Good Luck!

Geoff

The curious thing is that I thought Robert Fardell had been engaged by the Inspector to discuss Flat Rock with the Trustee.  Subsequently, the Inspector found "no compelling evidence to suggest procedural impropriety on the part of either the Manager or the Trustee in the fulfillment of their respective roles...".  Was something missed?

For news articles on the Flat Rock Forests Trust, forestry, the Serious Fraud Office, one immigrant family's experiences, immigration specialists, fraud, juries, logging, and more, check out the News Table of Contents.  Or you may wish to visit the Forestry Trust Table of Contents to read how a unit trust went bust.  Or the Topics Table of Contents which offers a different approach to lots of topics - among them poisonous insects, eating dogs, what's addictive, training vs teaching, tornados, unusual flying machines, humour, wearable computers, IQ tests, health, Y chromosomes, share options, New Jersey's positive side, oddities, ageing, burial alternatives, capital punishment, affairs, poverty, McCarthyism, the most beautiful city in the world, neverending work and more...