Reasons for Albany / Mirasol problems

Lets' collect links and other potentially relevant information here that might help to explain the Albany / Mirasol problems.

EuropeanContractor wrote:

Lets' collect links and other information here that help to explain the Albany / Mirasol problems

The nearest to an 'explanation' for Albany's problems I found in this link, from 9 February:

Albany U.K. operations temporarily halt

This is what it says: '(an Albany) source said Albany won a major account in the U.K. that was larger than first thought, and the Royal Bank of Scotland balked at the 65-day payment term requested by the client.'

EuropeanContractor,

I have also heard this theory before but to tell you the truth, until RBS come forward and confirm this... I'm not ready to trust it. Sounds like something Albany would say to keep angry contractors off it's back (and place blame on someone else).

So far, there has been so little "official" information that I can't stop thinking these are stalling tactics. The big question is if so then why? Is it that Albany want to enter Administration ASAP so that no one new can move forward with any legal case? or are they still trying to figure this mess out and actually have funds (somewhere) to pay us.

At this point, I'm going to say the first explanation is probably the right one. I just hope this Albany Mirasol mess doesn't turn into the Euro version of Enron!

I don't know about other's but I've been a tad uncomfortable as to what has been going on in Mirasol for a while. Sarah has always seemed a tad too defensive.

I applied for a distribution in July '09, got half of it in September and obviously the rest is currently in limbo. I only got that partial distribution after chasing and speaking to Waheed. The last few distribution's have been impacted by delays etc

My chief concern is, was Mirasol fueling Albany growth?

Have other's experienced similar delays?

You aren't the only one who got that feeling shafted.

some questions to everyone:

-do you honestly believe that this was an unplanned bankruptcy?
-even if it was, do you really think that this company will make an effort to pay your money back instead of "using discretion" and disappearing with the money or use the funds for albany?
-if they wanted to pay, why would they be dissolving the company?
-did you ever believe that mirasol was totally independent from albany?
-what did you think when directors said that "distribution was at directors' discretion" for your own funds?
-didn't you ever think why there is no transparency from the beginning? why you still don't know what is going on? why the communication has been really poor?

guys, don't forget! Only the paranoiac survives...

good luck with your money but what I am afraid is that you will become complacent as time passes. So organize as fast as possible and take legal action before it is too late!

In the document "Mirasol - Questions and Answers.pdf", one of the Q&As states as follows:

Q. How safe are funds held by Mirasol?

A. Mirasol is an initiative of the Albany Group, which has been looking after contractor’s
funds securely for more than 12 years. Consequently, we are aware that the security of
funds is probably the most sensitive issue for contractors. For this reason Mirasol will not
actively trade, therefore there is no reason why its funds should be at risk.

The above does not indicate if the funds held by Mirasol were even in a separate bank account to Albany. Also, as we do not have the company formation documents (article of association etc), we do not know if the Mirasol fund was giving intercompany loans to Albany companies or acting as a 'Guarantor' to Albany in any way.

It appears that Albany has set up a structure to protect itself both from the members and also other interested parties. Does anyone even know who are the directors of Mirasol and have a copy of the constitution documents of the company?

I can post the Albany Q&A document here as well.

shafted wrote:

I don't know about other's but I've been a tad uncomfortable as to what has been going on in Mirasol for a while. Sarah has always seemed a tad too defensive.

I applied for a distribution in July '09, got half of it in September and obviously the rest is currently in limbo. I only got that partial distribution after chasing and speaking to Waheed. The last few distribution's have been impacted by delays etc

My chief concern is, was Mirasol fueling Albany growth?

Have other's experienced similar delays?

Yes, I experienced the same things in July, evasive tactics, delays - exactly the same things.

Given that Mirasol was supposedly an initiative of the Albany Group its surprising how quiet the Group has been on this matter.

The best way forward is a group action but what action can we currently taken given all the unknown factors?

Anyone who has used Mirasol and even got their money out is potentially affected since all details of payments will come out now.

A big can of worms has been opened here. Very messy indeed.

it just gets better and better

have a look here

http://www.thealbanygroup.com/

Europe has now been Removed from the groups site

There's still info about Martin Glick and Sarah Morrey - they apparently went on a charity bike ride last year:

http://www.thealbanygroup.com/page.asp?section=379&sectionTitle=Rajasthan%20Bike%20Ride%202009

peter wrote:

it just gets better and better

have a look here

http://www.thealbanygroup.com/

Europe has now been Removed from the groups site

But they forgot to remove EMEA from the "Where we work" section!

http://www.thealbanygroup.com/page.asp?section=123&sectionTitle=Where+We+Work

thats a very disturbing news.. i never knew that they were having some delays before with the distribution.. for the last few years, i rarely make movements with my funds there, maximum say 9K and they gave it on the right distribution date.. and its my first time this january to request a significant amount..
my fears are growing that our money is not intact anymore.!!

Maybe we should try to freeze the assets of the people who are implicated in this mess

thats one action point we should try to do.. this world doesnt deserve to be so unfair like that.. we should definitely bring them in the court!!