{"id":29392,"date":"2025-08-28T20:54:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/29392\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T20:54:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:54:23","slug":"7news-spotlight-on-channel-7-and-7plus-s5e18-australias-biggest-superannuation-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/29392\/","title":{"rendered":"7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 and 7plus S5E18 Australia\u2019s biggest superannuation disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 and 7plus S5E18 Australia\u2019s biggest superannuation disaster \u2013 <\/strong>Insider reveals how $1.2 billion of retirement savings vanished.<\/p>\n

This Sunday at 8.25pm on Seven and 7plus<\/a>, 7NEWS Spotlight<\/strong> uncovers the inside story of Australia\u2019s largest-ever superannuation disaster \u2013 the collapse of the First Guardian and Shield Master Funds.<\/p>\n

The numbers are staggering: more than 12,000 Australians\u2019 super balances wiped, and their futures stolen, with losses totalling over $1 billion and a government regulator that may have been asleep on the job.<\/p>\n

\"7NEWS\"7NEWS\"7NEWS\"7NEWS<\/p>\n

In this 7NEWS Spotlight<\/strong> investigation, reporter\u00a0Michael Usher speaks to several victims left without a cent to retire on, and an insider who allegedly helped sell them the dream.<\/p>\n

Financial adviser Ferras Merhi, who has been banned from travelling and has had his assets frozen by ASIC, told 7NEWS Spotlight<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t [sleep], it\u2019s hard. It kills me every day that in one shape or form, I\u2019ve been involved either directly or indirectly in support of this particular product.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Michael Usher<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThousands of Aussie investors were conned by these very sophisticated schemes. They did their own research, but they were duped, because at every level, these schemes appeared to be checked and verified by reputable advisers and regulators, who we\u2019re meant to trust with our future.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cAustralia should be outraged at this billion-dollar theft, which needs to be investigated at the highest levels. To lose every cent of your hard-earned retirement savings is beyond heartbreaking \u2013 it has ruined the lives of hard-working Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Also on 7NEWS Spotlight<\/strong>, guest reporter Sonia Kruger sits down with Sporty Spice, Melanie C, in London.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former Spice Girl and The Voice Australia<\/strong> coach opens up on the comment that nearly broke her and how she almost missed out on the gig of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Now a mother and mentor, Melanie also shares how her daughter helped her reconnect with music, and the global movement that made her a household name.<\/p>\n

7NEWS Spotlight: Australia\u2019s super disaster <\/strong>\u2013 This Sunday at 8.25pm on Seven and 7plus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Release \u2013 Seven<\/p>\n

TV Central Seven content HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 and 7plus S5E18 Australia\u2019s biggest superannuation disaster<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"7NEWS Spotlight on Channel 7 and 7plus S5E18 Australia\u2019s biggest superannuation disaster \u2013 Insider reveals how $1.2 billion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[23424,79,18,19,17,234,235,12135],"class_list":{"0":"post-29392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-7news-spotlight","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-seven"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}