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What’s this then?
This is the luxurious BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo M Sport and it can be yours for €86,653.
What’s so special about it?
The 6 Series GT is basically the second-generation 5 Series GT rebadged as a 6, stretched and made more practical. The four-door GT is styled like a coupe but has a practical hatchback boot that can hold 610 litres when the rear seats are in place or a massive 1,800 litres when the rear seats are tumbled.
Any standout design features?
For me, the standout design features are in the rear of the cabin where back seat passengers can lounge in reclining seats and enjoy plenty of leg and shoulder room. Rear seat passengers can also make use of 12v charge points, air-con and the BMW rear seat entertainment which is remote control operated.
And what powers this BMW 6 Series?
This 630d M Sport model is powered by a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine making 265hp and 620Nm of torque and mated to an eight-speed Steptronic transmission.
The six-cylinder engine is very refined and smooth and is pretty economical too with a claimed fuel economy figure of 5.3 litres/100km (53.3mpg) and CO2 emissions of 139g/km (Band B2, €280 per annum).
Does the BMW 6 Series have any luxurious touches?
Did you not see the TVs in the back? Apart from this, there is a BMW M Sport leather multifunction steering wheel, leather sports seats that are heated and have a memory function. There is a panoramic glass sunroof and interior ambient lighting to help set the mood and there is gesture control and wireless charging for mobile phones.
But who would drive this car?
The BMW 6 Series GT is for those who want the comfort of a BMW 7 Series, the looks of a BMW 5 Series, the practicality of a Touring model and the higher driving position of an SUV.
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Yesterday, the Sunday Times reported that 6.4 million Siteserv shares changed hands in November 2011 (days before the first bids were received for the company) – compared to just 121,000 shares traded a month earlier.
Says it all really
In normal countries, the police conduct dawn raids when there is evidence of insider trading, yet in Ireland the dawn raids are only for those exercising their democratic right to protest.
Some country, a failed country.
Chris, the stock exchange should be investigating this, alongside the PAC. The optics of KPMG investigating themselves is all wrong.
The Fraud Squad and the CAB should be investigating.
absolutely WJ, the whole thing stinks to high heaven, and in the meantime the poorest and most disadvantaged are suffering the most , are disproportionately savaged on incomes , and people seem quite happy to participate in the victim blaming that is happening. It’s disgusting.
Agree on the Fraud Squad. Dukes and others must be investigated by them. FG and thier business friends in banks and elsewhere seem to think that not calling something a fraud means it isn’t a fraud. Depressing. Surely, they can’t get away with this?
This is Ireland Andrew. Getting away with it is exactly what’s going to happen.
The only way to get to the bottom of this and many more things is to get sinn fein and independents into government. .
Sinister, no truer words spoken.
The conniving FG , bankers , shareholders and a multi millionaire , buyer , (who doesn’t pay his taxes in Ireland )will make sure the real story is buried so deep and so multilayered it will never surface
Even more reason to not pay irish water, i’m not against paying for water but this has been a shambles from the start and needs to be put to bed, how could any right thinking citizen allow irish water to survive this…
*Rolls eyes*
CAB & Garda Fraud squad… This is what happens when people with absolutely no clue in the slightest start assuming authority to voice opinions on things they know nothing about.
Neither have anything to do with share trading a securities and exchanges commission (SEC) part of the central bank has that authority and responsibility for overseeing all matters related to fraud in sharetrading.
True but they have to meet their maker in the end and by God I would hate to be them
Bend over Irish tax payer your about to be taken for a right ride.
Another 10 year inquiry.?
Gravy train for some lucky lawyers/judges.
Dennis O’B and the current crop of politicians, and any other parties involved, will probably be retired or dead when we get the results
fast forward 2025.
Nobody (still alive) will be to blame, and nobody will go to jail.
Irish controversies re corruption or malpractice or insider trading, or cronyism always have a happy ending.
Charge the bill to the taxpayer.!
…and you’ll be paying €1000-1500 a year in water charges to a private company.
Corruption – From An Taoiseach Enda Kenny & An Tanaiste Joan Burton, all the way down to the bottom of the flea infested pile in this previous and current Governments !
“…and you’ll be paying €1000-1500 a year in water charges to a private company.”
possible scenario.
government want out and wash their hands of the water Quango:
A buyout, down the line, by Mr O’Brien, cheaply, because the revenue stream for the next few years will hardly cover the cost of sending out and processing the bills.?
maybe every time you defecate, or urinate, or masticate your meal (with the help of a cup of coffee) in 5 years time-Dennis will be there too-with a top up for his off shore bank account.!
surprise surprise
so much for dear leader having no problem with naming the names involved.. same guff as ever from the troika parties… it’ll stay like this as long as we collectively tolerate it…
Somebody with a balaclava and a gun should have run off with the “hard copy” and sold it on to the tabloids..
Lol.
Our (limited and expensive) freedom of information laws have already propelled state agencies into such a tizzy that they are not keeping minutes of their activities any more.
saves on black ink.! (heavy redaction)
saves embarrassing anybody.!
“The purchase of three major Irish businesses over the past two years by the billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien involved total bank write-offs of more than €300 million.
The deals saw the businessman invest €230 million to acquire the Siteserv Group, the Topaz Group and the Beacon Private Hospital.
The Siteserv deal saw the State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which is now in liquidation, write off €110 million of the €150 million it was owed. Mr O’Brien’s move to become the major shareholder in the Topaz Group earlier this year involved the IBRC writing off slightly more than half of the €304 million it was owed.”
When you fill up your car with fuel, Dennis gets a cash top up (tax free) in his offshore account.
When you get your new water meter fitted Dennis gets a cash top up (tax free) in his off shore account.
When you get ill and your insurance company sends you to the Beacon Hospital Dennis gets a cash top up (tax free) in his off shore account.
When will he make a bid for the nations’ few licensed crematoriums, so that every time one of us dies, Dennis will put a few bob more into his Isle of Man banking haven.??
whilst struggling mortgage holders are being bought to court for the roof over their heads
“The UK government is the most open and transparent in the world, according to a global rankings on the basis of public access to official data. Ireland and Greece at a 31 ranking are among the lowest in Europe with Hungary at 33 – the lowest of all European countries including Russia.”
http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1028768.shtml
Seriously,
Could anyone trust a KPMG audit?
Someone obviously does.
yeah, the government
Can we trust them to audit, effectively, themselves?
Ah sure it will be fine lots of Chinese walls about!
Michael Fingleton
Trust is gone, our politics and financial system is rotten to the core.
There is an election win for a crowd with at concrete plan to put an end to cronyism and corruption of our political system, once and for all.
It’s not rocket science… it could be something like; A rapid reaction task force backed up by legislation. Take the brightest (from business, the Revenue, the Garda & CAB) and develop a agency that can investigate in real time and historically, with a revenue generating ethos like CAB. Every major sale/event should have to be rubber stamped by it, all business men and public servants involved with any deal should have to sign legally declarations of honesty (or whatever). Make the f***ers squeaky clean. There is a bit of bureaucracy in it, but if done right we’d be more efficient at governing our ‘society’. Anything is better than what we have, even if it costs.
But will we see this? I doubt it, more like the usual baloney of attack politics and pie in the sky vague promises. grrr
I thought thats what people voted for the last time? an end to cronyism, a sea change and no to the bondholders
I.m fkg sick and tired of all this bs now.. corruption at its best.
1.4B should keep us all happy tomorrow tho.
Cheers EU :(
KPMG seem to be involved in most cases that have come to light lately, under a number of different governments.
Makes you wonder who’s ruining the country.
Enda and Michael trust them , a big march against this deal should be organised
Ruining or running? Both work….
Can you say ‘insider trading’? Stephen Donnelly made a very good point earlier. In other countries, Noonan would have had to resign by now.
Weird – is that what SF/IRA think. Really?
An example WJ?
Are you some f#cktard Bill whats this got to do SF ?
Or as he’s so fond of saying, “have you a link for that?”
Yep
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/joan-burton-wants-all-siteserv-details-released-327196.html
“Details revealed at the weekend show there was a sudden upsurge in share sales in the month before the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) began to receive the first bids for Siteserv as part of a confidential sale process. In November 2011, 6.4m shares were sold in the firm, compared to 121,000 in October 2011, and 4.76m between January and October the same year.
When Siteserv was sold in March 2012, the 3.9c share price was 292% higher than that of January 13, 2012, the day before the potential sale of the company was confirmed to the stock exchange.As a result of the 3.9c share price, shareholders received a €5m payout.”
A massive surge in the purchase of shares in a bust company just before its sold and its shareholders receive payment, ahead of its creditors, which is not supposed to happen. Looks very much like details of the confidential sale were leaked and word got around there was easy money to be made buying shares in a bust company as a payoff was planned i.e. insider trading.
Jaysus Were, you’re a regular troll magnet.lol.
Meant when a political person resigned by now?
Stupid comment Bill Rooney and has no relevance here
This deal stinks.
Like rotten fish…
With bad b.o.
They are hardly going to be let away with that craic. Catherine Murphy will have to tackle them again.
Why is it down to one woman? It is up to us, the general public, to stir things up and support her valiant efforts.
Catherine Murphy deserves a lot of credit but The Sunday Times do not.
They made a big deal out of the fact that 6.4 Million shares were traded but failed to mention that this is less than 5% of the share capital.
TD does the work of the investigative journos, who then hype and selectively report a non story, trying to claim some spotlight.
The share trading story is a distraction from the real issues – 1) Lack of accountability and trnasparency with NAMA/IBRC and 2) Asking KPMG to investigate themselves
Catherine Murphy will be lost in the Sahara and die of thirst. They don’t need a happy ending, just an ending.
When Enda O’Brien were hatching this, along with the advisors, they knew that they would go on to
get exactly what they wanted. They have every corner covered and if it leaks, they dam the leaker. Ruin their
sense of safety/security/ longevity, but do it in such a way that the perpetrators (kenny/O’Brien) don’t lose any
sleep. We live in a society where ” Et tu brute” is something we say to the mirror every morning!!
Shiteserv
Chris,guess we could have predicted this,,,another FG/LAB cover up.,,,no words can Express how angry, i am with this Government. Comeuppence coming at the GE.
Look at how many of the current shower were in the cabinet that signed off on the mobile licence to DO’B, how could anyone trust anything they set up to reveal the truth.
Poor FG and Lab they had spent the last 4 months avoiding banana skins.lol
Catherine Murphy TD and her small staff have done the State a great service. Let’s hope the so called journalists in the Irish media who should have been doing the digging will now be awoken from their slumber.
Some hope.!
Great article Orla
I agree with Paul Roche, KPMG shouldn’t be allowed to audit the sale of Siteserv. They have a vested interest.
Just like Goldman and Sacs should not have been allowed to advise on the Bailout of Anglo, since they were one of the shareholders. Indeed, I would question them advising us on the possible sale of AIB.
The government need to find some new alternatives for ‘independent advice’ or they will lose even more trust from the Irish people.
not sure there is any trust left to lose
So a big game is being played, and Noonan and all the ‘clever’ lads have yet another big laugh fest, at the expense of the taxpayers. This is a complete insult and the sooner an independent enquiry, with full compelability and sworn evidence is instituted the better. Sick of this behaviour.
Were the shareholders paid by cheque or wire transfer? The KPMG liquidator that is also investigating siteserv was also the man that liquidated siteserv and was responsible for paying the shareholders…..details all here.
It’s not the transfer that is the problem , it is the receiving account. Set up a dummy corporation offshore, buy shares low, sell high, take the money and shut down dummy corp. Government will claim that the forensic accounting will cost more than the €5 million and call a halt. If it was in the US there would be a SWAT team breaking through the window right no. They take this sort of thing seriously over there and their idea of community service is 15 to life.
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
In Ireland everybody regulates/investigates themselves.!
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/04/27/timeline-to-a-killing/
It is a long read but if you have now problem with having a sore jaw as it drops it is well worth the read.
One hell of a long read but worth it.
In ten years in Ireland I have never heard of a prosecution for insider trading here, when it’s very difficult to believe there hasn’t been some of it going on somewhere. Which agency exactly has jurisdiction here or do multiple agencies hsve the remit, in the US it’s the SEC that would be investigating.
The fraud squad division of an Gardai I would have thought? How do we go about getting this investigated by the law?! Cannot possibly sit back and assume these people will actually be investigated properly..
I’m no legal hack, but I’m pretty sure ‘insider trading’ is a criminal offence. To that end, the Gardai and CAB, along with the Stock exchange should be the only entities investigating this. They are the only entities with the legal jurisdiction to do so, and from their investigations a legal case could be taken.
To suggest anything else would just result in a finding…an enquiry..then a fully paid out inquiry, a report or conclusion that will be withheld for years as said report cannot be published until all said ‘witnesses’ try to get their goods names reinstated in cours..
Give the whole debacle to the Gardai/ CAB and the Stock exchange.
Sure if the government or minister have nothing to hide…they have nothing to worry about.
The Gardai would not be permitted to investigate white collar crime.
insider trading is a minefield for investigators and everybody knows that no respectable pin suited businessman in Ireland ever ever sees the inside of an open prison-let alone a closed, walled jail.!
(sorry some of the Sean Quinn family spent a little while in jail-once upon a time)
Why would the Gardai not be allowed to investigate the crime? And even so, the Stock exchange are obliged to, so either way..an investigation can be done ..and criminal charges can be instigated.
Unless somebody had a crystal ball I think that it is fairly obvious that there was a word in the ear to somebody that the sale was going through. Wouldn’t surprise me to find that a shell company offshore bought in at the right time and that if the buyer was found they would claim no knowledge of the sale. The ordinary man on the street hasn’t a hope unless they are part of the circle of stockbrokers, civil servants and financiers who all hang out together and give each other the nod of a killing to be made.
And the plot thickens, and will they get away with corruption, one would have to say yes, under this administration or the last. What a shitty corrupt country we live in.
Corruption at it’s best it gets worse every day
Smoke and mirrors from the govt
“Hugh spin me right round”
Treason nothing more nothing less
Hang the govement and lets have a revolution
The fraud squad has 1 full time and 2 part time forensic accountants. Wonder are the consultants they hire from KPMG.????
Broadsheet reported on this last January. Another reason not to pay the water tax.
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2014/01/30/thicker-than-uisce/
I propose a public subscription to assemble a substantial bounty for whoever wishes to come forward with the necessary information, plus documents to back it up. I am more than willing to chip in.
Sheik…surely an amnesty would be much more preferable.
But even at that they could not come forward as they would have to name someone.
The only way to get this whole debacle sorted is the Gardai/ CAB and the Stock exchange. Both are legally obliged to investigate and both can take action.
Enough of this inquiry stuff..lets do the right thing for a change.
Investigation, evidence and sentence. End of.
Sick of this corrupt government. Remove them with mass nonpayment and a no in endas referendums, it will force a GE,guaranteed ,4 referendums and 4 losses enda and Joan are out the door.
Wonder how many shares Dukes had
Seriously, I don’t think the government could have lost more trust than they have from the people. They need to go, they are seen as being corrupt and in the pockets of big business and therefor not acting in the interest of the Irish public..if they don’t bow out soon the people will end up forcing them out..no one wants to see that but it’s heading that direction!
Jerry slattery,,, could you run that by me again , i got as far as €1.17 a share and you lost me
The whole lots stinks, everything stinks. DOB been giving licences for this and that, his debt rotten off from multiple companies he owns, yet he still has money to buy more licenses, pure insider trading between him and government cronies.
Then KPMG auditing themselves, seriously? You couldn’t make this up. Nice the crash in 08, not one Banker or politician has been imprisoned, but those who were guilty of something, unfortunately died.
Corruption is why the county is in a shambles. The government and banking sector is rotten to the core. And one is accountable, and we will continue to see this crap unless the government and the bank are properly shook up.
Awwww bless…. Spare a thought for the investigative journalists of yesteryear who had to spend days digging through index cards and microfilm in a dusty archive.
The system was unfriendly, I couldn’t take pics with my phone. I’m in my early 20′s I’ve never seen anything older than windows 98…. Being a journalist is really really hard… Better go back to copying and pasting from buzzfeed.
Orla why are journalists magnifing the investigation into the sale of siteserv and the underhand payment of €5m to shareholders when the real elephant in the room is the awarding ofthe meter installation contract.
This contract was awarded with out a tax clearance cert from a company that was’nt registered. Dept of enviorment ( p hogan ) and revenue need to be investigated for fraud.
In November 2011 a total of 6.4 million Siteserv shares changed hands at prices ranging from two cents each to 3.5 cents each, meaning the total value of shares traded was between €128,000 and €224,000. The stock had peaked in value in 2007 at €1.17 a share. It was sold in the March 2012 deal at 3.92 cents a share
Net of repayment of debt and after providing for costs and expenses associated with the transaction, Shareholders should expect to receive approximately 3.92 cent per Ordinary Share which represents:
o A premium of approximately 292.0 per cent. to 1.00 cent, the share price on 13 January 2012 (being the last trading day immediately prior to the announcement of the strategic review referred to above);
o A premium of approximately 96.0 per cent. to 2.00 cent, the share price on 15 March 2012 (being the last trading day immediately prior to this announcement);
o A premium of approximately 53.7 per cent. to 2.55 cent, being the average share price over the 6 month period prior to this announcement; and
o A premium of approximately 26.9 per cent. to 3.09 cent, being the average share price over the 12 month period prior to this announcement.
Considering there was 126,392,041 shares in issue The 5 million quid received was not much
Exactly why CAB and the Stock exchange should be investigating.
If you look at the above figures some 3% of the company changed hands around the time of the announcment
and there might have been a profit made of 180k .. Yes of course we should have a full public inquiry to look into who made the money here Looking at the average price of the share over the previous 10 years the share holders took a hit for 80 million at the minimum
The actual sale is only the tip of the iceberg though, what about the predicted revenue stream that people thought they were buying into?
Just use Solocheck like every other business in Ireland…..
http://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Company/Siteserv-Holdings-Limited-510327
This isn’t exactly earth shattering stuff though.
The way share dealing works, outside of day trading, is on information. To think that people don’t make a living off having the “inside track” on certain industry speculation is ludicrous, and just look at the best head fund managers on Wall Street – they have hired hacks all over town passing them information on a daily basis to get trades in before the action begins.
It’s not like a bid was out of the blue, and once trading commenced on a higher than normal level all of a sudden, the rest of the market isn’t far behind in knowing that news is imminent, and when that stock price begins to rise and rise, every investment house in the country will be leveraging in on it.
There’s definitely inside information that got the ball rolling, but that’s the bottom line in investments and is nothing new. Why is Drumm being hauled back from the states for firing off all of his Anglo shares whilst he was overseeing the banks collapse. And all the other buckos who got out “just in time”. It’s the name of the game.
The real controversial part of this is that they wont simply publish the share register in full, but having said that, it comes as no shock to me how archaic and sub-standard their software and data cataloging is.. that is par for the course in the Irish financial services industry – anyone who’s ever worked for a big bank here can testify to that. You’re basically using teletext to look up information.
@coybib, its becoming more and more clear how this deal went down. Deals for the boys. Even Al Capone went down for tax evasion.
Let the relevant authorities investigate..the Gardai/CAB and the Stock exchange. They are the only ones that can file charges …I’m not willing to pay millions on another inquiry. Investigation, charge and trial.
Denis o brien should oversee the investigation .boss of independent newspapers he s da man.
Surely that outdated and archaic software would be easily compromised by somebody willing to name the money makers
i see what you did there @Mark Heehee :-)
An insider trading investigation should be launched by the Financial Regulator to rule that out.
KPMG seem to operate for all sides in every issue.
The financial equivalent of being allowed back all dogs from trap one to trap six in greyhound racing, but guaranteed not to lose, regardless of winners odds.
Brian Harvey? From E17 … He really landed on his feet after running himself over
Can you get a copy of the last B1 filed in the CRO? It only costs a few euro. This usually lists all shareholders and shareholdings.
Must realised it’s a listed company- d’oh!
Sinks with corruption I hope we find out the facts name and shame good journalism will get this done.question is who will it be who has the courage to expose the corruption!
So KPMG are going to investigate KPMG……hahahahaha
You have to laugh otherwise you would cry.
This is interesting.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/65ea45ec-7f2a-11e1-a26e-00144feab49a.html#axzz3YcLTTEXu
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