BOQ faces class action over Sherwin scandal
Bank of Queensland has been hit with a class action claim over misuse of its money market deposit accounts.On Friday, lawyers Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan filed a claim in the Federal Court against BOQ and its agent, financial planner DDH Graham Ltd.The firm said in a media release that 350 investors lost more than A$60 million as a result of a scam allegedly organised by disgraced financial planner Bradley Sherwin, who used BOQ money market deposit accounts administered by DDH Graham to perform a series of round robin transactions.The class action claim is that the scam was enabled by BOQ and DDH Graham.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission placed a number of companies associated with Sherwin in liquidation in 2013 and Sherwin was banned from providing financial services for two years.Last year Sherwin and an associate were charged with a range of criminal offences relating to misconduct in the Sherwin Group.ASIC is undertaking an investigation of the BOQ money market deposit accounts held by Sherwin clients. Its investigation relates to "whether BOQ or DDH Graham may have processed transactions when they should not have."The action has been issued as an open class, which means that anyone caught up in the scam is covered (subject to an opt-out option)The action is being supported financially by Vannin Capital, a European litigation funder.