Russell Leigh breaks the surface of his cave in Israel to give us some wisdom.

Talks for the first time about the Dealstream collapse.

Well it wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for. A direct discussion is always preferable. But Russell Leigh, kingpin of liquidated derivatives trading business Dealstream, was prepared to engage via e-mail on Monday. And for the first time since the collapse of the company over three years ago, Leigh has started to offer his side of a saga that cost traders and the banks hundreds of millions of rand and had a debilitating impact on a number of JSE listed companies including gold miner Simmers and IT group Vox. Neither company survives as an independently listed entity.
Here’s our initial “conversation”, which I’m hoping to follow up on Tuesday after doing some more research into the three year old saga.
HOGG: What in your opinion caused the collapse of Dealstream?
LEIGH: Simply, like every other collapsed banking institution in 2008: bad debts.  BD [bad debts] from Dealstream’s client base or inability to collect the debtors fast enough to meet our creditor, the daily Safex margin call where 100% of our business was executed.
HOGG: Were client funds used in an attempt to trade out of underwater positions?
LEIGH: No, we only ever traded liquid accounts on mandate, the rest of the trading was executed by liquid clients through DMA.
HOGG: Did the FSB, JSE and the banks which were involved – Investec and RMB – act responsibly and rationally during the episode?
LEIGH: Investec really shouldn’t be grouped with the rest, they are totally innocent of everything. As for the FSB, RMB and the JSE, I don’t believe they operated responsibly or rationally.
HOGG: Were shareholders in Dealstream like Ernst & Young and the IDC approached to assist during and after the collapse came? How did they react?
LEIGH: The investors’ non-executive Dealstream director sat next to me almost every day during the last year of the company and was guiding me in every aspect of management of the company, We were joined at the hip – it was communicated to me that this was all they could actually help me with and I took all the help I could from them. They understood that our debtors were the cancer.
HOGG: People like Doug Reed of Vox Telecom accuse you of destroying his wealth. You agree?
LEIGH: Did he really say that? If you can show me that he did say that, I will show you his trading account at Dealstream and you can decide who and how he lost his money. Alec, I have only seen editorial from you and other editors, which pretty much line for line has been inaccurate. I have only seen words from people like DR admitting to their own mistakes and how they have grown and learnt from Dealstream. I haven't see them say what you and other editorial has said.
HOGG: It was reported that you left the country when the collapse happened, going to Israel. Is this true?
LEIGH: Not exactly, it’s very complicated – see below. I actually found myself in Israel months and months afterwards while persuing [sic] a business interest.
HOGG: It was reported that you would not return to SA to assist in the probe into the collapse because you feared for your life. Were there threats on your life?
LEIGH: Yes, they are ongoing with case numbers. Israeli police are very efficient and are actively working on ongoing threats. We know everyone who was involved in every aspect of everything regarding the threats, names places and people. In any event I offered all the assistance I could from the first day of the collapsed, but no one wanted anything from me. My exact contact details have always been available to the curator and then the liquidators who met with me in Tel Aviv in the summer of 2009 (N Hemisphere summer) and I stood by the white board teaching them everything they needed to know.
HOGG: Where are you now and how are you earning a living?
LEIGH: All I will say is that contrary to all the editorial of what has been written, I haven’t traded one thing in the market for over three years. Having no interest.
This article first appeared on Alec Hogg's daily blog


 _______________________________________________________


 _______________________________________________________

If anyone knows the whereabouts of Russell Owen Leigh in Israel - kindly let us know. There is a  reward available for his capture.


hopefully after Osama Bin Laden and Gaddafi,  this one wont be too difficult to hunt down.


www.twitter.com/dealstreamfraud