STATEMENT OF TNTI VICTIM

George Mihos and his dodgy ways.

This is the [long] story of a young man who was misled by George Mihos and the Today Not Tomorrow Institute. The following text is his legal statement.

In a recent ruling made by the VCAT TNTI's contract was held to be "seriously misleading".


***************

I am a student studying information technology. I live at home with my mother.

In June 2004 I took a year off from study. I worked as a part-time casual at Coles Supermarket. During this time I was thinking how I could improve my long term finances and minimise my debt.

I saw an ad in MX newspaper for a public program for Today Not Tomorrow Institute (TNTI) with Mr George Mihos. I attended at the Victorian Arts Centre with three of my friends from church.

Mr Mihos and the other speakers told me that I could improve my long term finances by joining one of the three programs run by TNTI. These cost $3497, $4997, $8497 and I could find out how these programs worked by attending a 3 day wealth creation seminar that cost $495.

He told me I would also be given a large book of techniques about property and finance that would help me achieve great wealth. If I invested in one of the 3 programs I would have a wealth coach appointed to work with me. They said these were people who had made money using the program and who would be able to advise me along the way as I tried to make money for myself.

There was a money back guarantee mentioned at the public program. I was told that if I was dissatisfied about the seminar then early on the last day of the seminar I could ask for a $200 refund. In order to get this refund I would have to speak to one of the people running the seminar.

If I stayed for the whole three days then I would not be able to get a $200 refund but I would be able to keep the book and any notes I had taken.

Towards the end of the 3 day seminar I found out that this was a misunderstanding. I would only get to keep the book if I actually signed up for one of the three programs.

The public program was a very positive one. All the speakers were enthusiastic. I liked the idea that I could make a lot of money and eliminate my debts. But my friends and I all thought it sounded too good to be true. I also knew my finances were bad and that I would not be able to afford it. So I decided to let the matter go. None of my friends wanted to do the program either.

About a week later I got a call from Chris Quinn. He was one of the wealth coaches. I had left my contact number on the paperwork I had been asked to fill out. He asked me if I was interested in creating wealth for myself and I said yes. He suggested I attend the 3 day seminar. I told him that the public program sounded interesting but that my finances were bad and that I really couldn't afford it.

He asked me about my background. I explained my studies and how I hoped also to start a business in photography. He then asked me how serious I was to building wealth on a scale of 1 to 10. I said I guess about a 7 or 8. He said the three day program would help me to do this.

I was still hesitant about it because I didn't have $495 and I knew that I've nearly reached my limit on my credit card but I asked him what was covered in the program and he said mostly property and shares (I had previously told him I was interested in shares.)

He said that one of the people (an international student) who had attended the three day program had made a lot of money on the sharemarket by using a few hundreds of dollars.

He told me that shares would be discussed at the seminar and he convinced me to attend. I was still very uncertain because my finances were poor. I asked him to delay my credit card payment of $495 because it was over the limit at the time, and to make two smaller payments, and he agreed to this.

The payment for the full $495 went through on 27 Oct 2004. I received a tax invoice by email from the accounts manager Tracey Watson on 11 Oct.

On Oct 20 I received an email from Today Not Tomorrow Institute saying that I had to attend a meeting before the 3 day seminar in Carlton. I attended this on Oct 28 starting at 6.30pm. I was asked to fill out a questionnaire which I did, and I was told that if I didn't fill out the questionnaire I could not qualify for a refund. They asked me about some of my goals and achievements and I think they asked me whether I preferred safer or more risky financial investments.

The 3 day seminar was held on Nov 12,13,14 at the Victorian Arts Centre.

The Friday session started at 11.30 am and went to 10.00 pm. When we registered we were given a folder of materials for the weekend. Included in this was a sheet about the different packages we could invest in. On the back of this sheet were some terms and conditions. This was the first time I had seen this sheet.

On the Friday we looked at mostly personal stuff about getting motivated and making money. Chris Quinn was the MC on this weekend. The early speakers mainly talked about investing in myself. All of them were very enthusiastic.

They had a number of speakers and it was a very busy program. Most the speakers came from the finance industry. There was a lot of emphasis on being enthusiastic about making money. Most of the topics I hadn't heard about before. One topic that came up was joint ventures. We were told that working with people who had made money was the best way to increase our wealth.

They had a lot of displays and film clips from Star Wars and Jerry McGuire and other films. A number of times we were asked to hug other people in the room so we could learn how to trust people more.

Throughout the weekend there were a lot of topics presented that I didn't know much about. The speakers told people not to worry about this. They said that confusion was good because it meant we were changing to new ideas.

It was a very enthusiastic environment but I couldn't see anything that I could really use in my own life because I had no money to start with.

Throughout the program I was pretty clear that there was no way that I could go ahead and do any of the packages. They were just too expensive for me.

The Saturday session started at 9.30 am and went to 10.00 pm. There was a lot about loans and property investments. In the morning session a financial planner Mr Brad Matthews spoke. I don't remember much of what he said. But we were told we could fill out a financial planning sheet if we wanted to and he would review it for us for free. He could then tell us how much we could borrow if we wanted to do any property investments.

There were a number of other guest speakers throughout the day.

On the final day Sunday, Chris Quinn came up to me about 9.30am and asked me what I thought about the seminar. I told him everything sounded good but I couldn't see how much of it would apply in my life. I asked him when they would be talking about shares and he told me later in the afternoon about 5pm.

He talked to me about the packages and asked me which one I wanted. They were all expensive. I told him I wasn't ready to make up my mind. He asked me if I needed someone to help me start off. I think he was talking about someone helping me one-on-one if I decided to make some of my own investments in the sharemarket.

I told him I was generally happy to learn on my own but that I wanted to get advice along the way to make sure I was doing it properly.

He recommended to me the Astute package at $5937. (This was with 6 monthly payments). I told him I couldn't afford that. He said he would speak to the accountant about arranging a payment schedule for me so it would be easier for me financially.

I didn't agree to any payments or package at the time. He didn't tell me I had to make up my mind by any particular time of the day.

I really believed that I could not afford any of the packages and that I would just stay till the end of the day, keep the book of notes and hear the stuff about the sharemarket. And they would keep the $495.

The first session went from 10.00am to 12.00pm I think. Then people were told that if they were seeking a refund or choosing one of the packages that they would have to speak to the people running the program during the break that followed. I didn't think this applied to me. I was still expecting that I could see the sharemarket presentation later in the day.

I did not know that by staying in the room after 12.20 pm that I would automatically be agreeing to purchase one of the packages.

During this break none of the people from TNTI approached me.

The next session went from about 12.20 till approximately 2.00 pm was about trust funds and family trusts. I didn't understand most of it and none of it seemed to apply to me but it might have been OK for some other people.

At about 2.00 pm Chris Quinn came over to me. He asked me had I filled out the application for a package. I said I didn't want to choose any package because I couldn't afford it.

He said that he didn't understand what I was saying and that I didn't have a choice. He said that getting a refund or choosing a package had been my only choice and that I had to get a refund by 12.20pm. He said I didn't have any choice now that I had to choose one of the packages. And he said it was a "done deal".

I told him that I wanted to leave. He told me I couldn't leave, that it was past the first break (approximately 12:20pm).

He gave me a bank payment form to fill out and told me what details to fill in. I only did so because I believed I was legally obliged to do so.

He told me he had been able to arrange easier payments for me over 24 months and he gave me the payment numbers of $285 per month to fill in which I was told to write in the Focus package space. He did not tell me any overall payment number to write down.

[Only later did I figure out that the total figure was $6840, which was greater than $5937 we had spoken about at 9.30 am and which I had told him then I could not afford].

He also told me to write a payment commencement date of 14/12/04. And which other lines I had to fill in and sign. He then took the form away.

A copy of this debit form was sent to me some time after the 3 day seminar.

After filling out the form with Chris Quinn he tried to tell me how I could improve my finances. He said I should concentrate on filling my "wealth buckets". And also, because I didn't have much money, that I should try to find someone to do a joint venture with.

They had explained this earlier. The idea is that I can help someone who has little or no knowledge about how to invest using their property. I can help them borrow against their house and invest in some other property that makes a profit. I would get a part of this profit because of the help and ideas that I have provided.

Also about 2pm another wealth coach was speaking to an elderly lady who had also stayed. He was getting her to complete a form as well. She didn't want to and she was very upset. Later in the afternoon I saw her leave with the seminar book under arm. I believe she also didn't know she had to sign one of the contracts by the end of the first session.

I was pretty shaken up at this stage. I knew the package was a lot of money and I knew I couldn't afford it.

I was very depressed through most of the afternoon. Had I known that by staying after 12.20pm that I would automatically be in a contract for one of the three packages then I would have left at the time.

The sharemarket program that I had stayed for was on at 5pm. They mentioned shares, options, warrants and cfds, but it all seemed very basic. They did not go into much depth. They did spend a great deal of time showing us how the software worked for the stock market program BourseData.

While I thought the presentation were ok, I still don't think it would have convinced me to take up any of the investment packages.

The program eventually finished at 11pm.

The organisers started hugging everyone and Mr Mihos hugged me. When Chris Quinn hugged me he told me that he was sorry that he had to push me so hard.

I went home very depressed about the whole deal. Chris Quinn has known all along that my finances were poor and that I would have difficulty paying for a package of $6840. He also knew that I really only decided to attend the program to find out about shares and they had put this on late on the Sunday.

A couple of weeks later I explained my complaint with Glenda at the Consumer Affairs Centre in Brimbank and she assisted me in lodging a claim with VCAT.

After I lodged this claim I received some phone calls at my home from Mr Dennis Lobo from TNTI. He asked me what my complaint was and I told him as best I could. He told me I had to leave on the first break of the Sunday. He also said that the 3 day event was part of the packages.

Finally, he said that TNTI had a very strong legal team and that I was bound by the contract.


***************