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the, [000:00:00;00] the, the, sometimes something happens to a person that is so awful that what they need the most at the outset is support and a friendly here in a perfect world. that is how it would always work out. but this isn't the perfect world, and when things don't go the way they should, a strong person stands up. she stands up for herself and for others in the same

position. even when the road becomes more difficult for flight contains. i'm john kerry. ok, welcome to the whistle blowers the . 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 of the most dramatic and damaging things that a person can experience is a sexual assault. the loss of a sense of safety, the distrust of one surroundings and the palpable fear that it could happen again are almost too much to handle. what a soul victims need is support the help and cooperation of law enforcement. a friendly ear, perhaps even a psychologist or psychiatrist to help the victim work her way through the experience. but what happens when that system breaks down? what happens when a company that has a role in the protection of the victim acts and an unethical,

or perhaps even illegal way? that's when whistles are blown. to nicole stevens was a victim of a violent assault where she was raped and strangled nearly to death. her injuries were so severe that she was placed on medical disability through that experience she was and continues to be treated with dignity and respect by her insure capital alliance, which is a part of south africa's largest ensure called liberty group. during the course of her disability, nicole became a domestic violence and civil society activist in 2020, another victim of assault reached out to her to ask for her help in processing a disability claim. with the insurance company discovery life. she met with a companies legal director and a forensic investigator and was able to help her client receive his disability payment. the company's treatment of this client, however, was unacceptable. and nicole believe that it was an ethical and possibly illegal as well. nicole then sought out other victims by

a social media finding that many of them experienced the same on ethical and illegal behavior at the hands of discovery. she now represents 7 clients as an advocate, and she's assisting another 12 people in a class action suit. and you're probably asking what this on ethical and illegal behavior is. well, simply put it's fraud. many of the victims have put their trust in discovery and many invested their life savings. the funds were invested with discovery invest the company's investment arm. the broker with whom the funds were invested, was warned repeatedly that his work was not compliant with the law. but instead of correcting course, that broker disappeared. and he took all of his victims money with him. criminal and civil actions are currently pending. nicole now holds online domestic violence support group meetings that are open to all. she also assists victims in obtaining orders of protection,

exit plans and other domestic violence support. and she does all of this for free. she knows 1st hand when the victim needs that friendly faced. nicole stevens. thank you so much for being with us. we're happy to have you. thank you so much john, for having me as one of your gifts. it is truly an honor. nicole, let's start with the event. i'm going to assume changed the course of the rest of your life. can you tell us what happened to you and how it motivated you to help others in need? his show. and john, i was the area manager of an international retailer and i was in a domestic violence. so we, i was to right. and to stand gold oldest today. i'm sorry, i do suffer from p t s d store and it still makes me very overwhelmed talking about

it or what happened was other than the, the, the, the coming months off to the assault and the wheels at work started for the move. and i, i basically lost my memory, one of the incidences was i was driving on the highway and i literally stopped in the hallway, not knowing where i was, where i was going. and that in itself is traumatic. so i, i switch the services of specialist snack urologist and then as a specialist to try and figure out what was wrong with me. well, that being assaulted, i had blocked the entire incident of my mind. so at that time i didn't know what was going on with me. so i was going through the motions of seeing specialists to

find out why i couldn't recall woods memory was, was gone and was subsequently diagnosed with cedar dementia, which is a type of dimensions. those both on by severe depression. and during that time i was been placed on team pre disability. and a few months after that the, the physical trauma and the damage started to where i hit i, a sausage, multiple label, spine damage from the cervical. rest of the number cycle, the limits of now and bladder in confidence. i would just lose control as well as sporadic episodes of harasses from the waist down or so. it was the, the main to how the suck logical format. and their object was the physical trauma

that's, that's came and it was during this period that because the told me i was having a lot of it to go. and i'm for then and monday, the office to take me to the hospital for me. surgery and my neighbor said to me, none of the timing of the, the writing in the recovery when i was an award. and i look to see to what do you talk about. and she actually explained to me the assault and her, she says now and it was as if i really didn't tactful american. both of the is the memories have come back and this year, not united states of them have english storage. and i think i've become

a christian again. and i think it's below its way of protecting me for those 4 years to, to show psychologically and possibly physically, all the dss a and in order to get me to this place where i can be of service to other people in similar situations, you had a positive experience when dealing with liberty group, the big insurance company did it occurred to you at the time that you were having your case process that, that there were a lot of other people out there who were not having a positive experience. what made you get involved with insurance companies? was it when that 1st client approached you june the entire process from, from the 1st i was booked of and hospitalized till last july, when the insurance company. and it's one of the largest, if not the best in south africa, another to quit. and the day completed it, this payment is and it's now been approved happens over time. and so we'll de

whichever is the area and no ones do that every in us that other people were going through. obviously i was going through my format. i was being treated with the utmost dignity and respect and compassion. and during my time in my disability, i then became magenta based robins at to best. and i through social media. somebody approached me and said that he was in a project and a full yeah. and claim process with discovery loss. and when he explained to me what he had gone through, i was in complete disbelief because it was not what i have been accustomed to and, and, and, and it was not my experience. and,

and in one of my links and posts that she referred to, it as, as it must be a movie. because it has all the trimmings of, of a mocking movie in, in hong discovery that has dealt with the disability clips from fraudulent documentation, a safe death certificate that they supplied a hospital in order to get medical records for the 2 bribing, extortion, and human rights violations. so my experience was completely different. you to another space depressed the experiences that your clients have had with discovery were certainly not like your own experience at liberty group. what you've described happening there quite simply is a ponzi scheme, and there were warnings that that was what was happening. tell us how this happened and what are the criminal and civil actions being taken to correct it. what i also can't you to believe is through

a group of 12 investors who invest in the last, 2nd some, some of them who, who went on the time and gave the, the pension of i and, and visited with the broker of discovery invest. it's the same company, just a different division, luck discovery left. and the warning signs were they for discovery, and yet they blatantly ignored us. they were the broker, but these cons dealt with his documentation has to be accordance in accordance with the state legislative requirements in terms of compliance on documentation that is needed to be filled out, etc, etc. and this broker was wanting to numerous times that his commission would, would be stopped if he didn't get his house and wanted to. um what, what the photograph it really, really?

um i get angry because with my abuse, i don't, i can be to any type of abuse whether it's spousal partner, cobra, i've got a major problem with and when it came, she to discovery investigating in the case of the investments it was brought to their attention in december 2021 and on numerous occasions again in january 2022 and i must be correct box tend to be corrected. might be the same between each 20 into january 2021. and the forensic investigator, any visits at this time to head touch to, to get information about his money. this investigator une sold this this time in

february. and it was clear from the opposite that the broker had run away with a fence. and it wasn't just the one, it was many others, the total of which is approximately 18, monday and round. so in the exchange rates, it's probably about a $1000000.00. um discovery, i opened the criminal charges in may some 3 or 4 months at a time. and it was just the lexi days and co mana in which they dealt with the broker. they never locked down his office. they didn't confiscates any of his documentation. they didn't call in the police services immediately with they could have done a full forensic audits and taken his laptops, word of that nothing was done, it was done months later. and um, unfortunately, due to this day, this bracket is still free and he hasn't been interested. so i am going to takes

the administrative action against the, the investigation because i feel that it is, it's definitely felt these investments. some of them have been left on government grounds, which is a measly $1800.00 grand a month in which to that. so it's really, it's david stating what has taken place. it seems to me, nicole, that without a formal structure behind you, it would be easy to get lost in the number of people who need help. you're helping these people out of the goodness of your heart. and john, that you know, i have to deal with my health test, and i'm so fortunate in order to earn an income because of my disability and, and what i went through and that is put me in this position in order to help people

safe charge. i didn't charge anything and it does become overwhelming, especially on those really tough days for me with my health and fortunately discoveries kinds that i'm assist uh well aware of my issues and, and my health concerns and they're very supportive and you know, oh, well, let us in one day, and i'll be mand down for a week, and i won't be able to do much. it will take me that long to recover. so it's as and when, and also on the lines on the judicial system. so when i receive communications, i have to act and sometimes it's on a bit and sometimes of some of that day i it is as long as use nicole, please stay with us. we're going to take a short break. and when we come back,

we'll talk about the broader scene for whistle blowing in south africa speak to. 2 2 2 2 2 2 the look forward to talking to you all that technology should work for people. a robot must obey the orders given by human beings except we're so shorter is it conflict with the 1st law? show your mind, anticipation. we should be very careful about our personal intelligence at the point, obviously is to make a trust rather than to the various jobs with the artificial intelligence. we have somebody in the team and the robot must protect this phone. existence was on the

car. i'm rick sanchez, and i'm here to plan with you whatever you do. do not watch my new show. seriously . why watch something that's so different opinions that he won't get anywhere else . welcome to please do the have the state department, c i a weapons, bankers, multi 1000000000 dollar corporations. choose your facts for you. go ahead, change and whatever you do. don't want my show stay main street because i'm probably going to make you uncomfortable. my show is called stretching time, but again, it's not. we don't want to watch it because it might just change the way you the welcome back to the best employers. i'm john kerry. i could were speaking with nicole stevens whistleblower from south africa who drew strength from a terrible incident of domestic violence and use that experience to help others.

good to have you with us. nicole. thank you john. i wanted to ask you a general question about whistle blowing in south africa. we've actually had more than several south african whistle blowers here on the show. and one of the complaints that they have that is consistent is that there is not only little govern mental support for whistle blowers, but the government is sometimes so hostile toward whistle blowers as to make the situation personally dangerous for them. has that been your experience at all or have you received government support for what you do? that's a great question. john, being a whistle blower for another division of discovery limits that is the discovery health. and so it's not the case i can discuss because it is confidential at this stage, and it is still very sensitive. but i've been extremely fortunate to have the

regulatory bodies that overseas, the medical schemes in south africa i've, i've had not, i need the support that i've had the youth, especially investigations unit, the n d a. the national prosecution with r t as well as, as a government bodies supporting the a 100 students. in fact, a 150 percent. i've been extremely blessed to have the people working with me on that was hoping that in case when it comes to the discovery loss discovery loss and an off in my opinion is that there is a road unit operating within discovery. last because they do not k for anything within the know that operates on the on punches and conditions they

use cause it's and over to maintenance on the disability cons. and this is often they have canceled the contract and they have even used policeman is to do they surveillance on the on times, which is absolutely disgraceful. so what i've done is with the disability with is we've now gone and reports of the police to the regulatory part here, which is that your i a so independent and i a so i think i think it's internal space or out is i pitch. that's the independent director of investigation. i'm sorry, i'm at a loss of the way it's this is my, my cognitive thinking. i put is the regulatory body for the police services. yeah.

and it's been, it's been really tough because we've had an investigator with i'm investigating these cases against discovery. and we have now found that the executive director of i page is now contributing with the discovery not in charging this investigator. i was investigating this, these charges of the police, me getting discoveries work in terms of surveillance. so what i have done is i have now reported this to the parliamentary committee for police and as well as the financial 6 to conduct with our teeth as well as the reserves bank and the oversee the insurance industry, as well as the piece on that side another issue that's been consistent among south african whistle blowers is that prosecutors have not bought into the idea that

whistle blowers are exposing violations of the law. and often times the whistle blowers find themselves in legal jeopardy when they go public. in fact, some of them have had to go into hiding or have had to leave the country. have you experienced any of this kind of retaliation? what's my experience? we've had the process of cheats has onboard. the problem is, is that the discovery seemed to insinuate themselves into the investigations at some level of the investigation or the prosecution. and i can say the prosecution because that is unfounded at this stage. but i'm sorry, i lost my train of thought. and in terms that has actually been on

board in terms of retaliation for me, has actually been directly from discovery and discovery health. i received a, an attorney's letter wanting me to refrain to which i have responded, stating that what i speak of is actually factual. and cannot be seen as any type of different nation. it is or in the public space, whether it's quote judgements of that nature release from the ombudsman. and i've had of age threats as well of my life, which i have been in touch with the uh, the witness program with, with this protection program. and we have spoken about it. so at this stage i don't feel it's necessary and i still have a child she is at home. but i know it's a,

that sounds a bit strange, but um, the space is not is not viable for me to go and see what this protection at the stage. what kind of support have you and other south african whistle blowers received from whistleblower organizations. here in the united states, we're fortunate to have things like the national whistleblower center whistle blowers of america, the government account ability project and myriad other organizations for support in europe. there are also a lot of similar organizations, but what's the situation in south africa? who would you turn to for support? uh, john, the that's, that's a really great question. um, you know, with the likes of some distant pool, june bellamy and apple williams that they would. and then whistle blowers in general, which would approach the whistle blowers house is equipped to deal and to support with the others,

whether it be for legal representation or accommodation loss of income because of, of the loss of work because of the wants of living. so we have to was looking at his house, which is a great organization. they really do great work. finally, nicole, what advice would you give to whistle blowers and to would be whistle blowers who come to you for guidance? how can they protect their interests? the, the biggest obstacle a whistle blower has, is to, is to type information that they have and to, to follow the routes off the legal routes. so my advice would be to to seek the advice of an attorney, number one, and to seek out the relevant regulatory bodies who,

who are they to protect, then as well as to enforce the no, i'm so to typically be protected on the legal side. and also to be aware of your surroundings because you never know whose toes you step on and what threats they are off. they. nicole, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. it's stories like these that we live to tell to help bring clarity and more importantly, healing. thank you. to hello, give, ron, the great egypt and writer and philosopher. one says, 12 can you give but little when you give of your possessions it is when you give up yourself that you truly get. and pablo picasso. arguably, the greatest artist of the 20th century said that quote, the meaning of life is to find your gift for the purpose of life is to give it away . i want to thank our guest, nicole stevens for joining us today and for her strength and heroism. in helping

others and thanks to our viewers for joining us for another episode of the whistle blowers and john curiosity. and we'll see you next time the. 2 2 2 2 2 2 the question of the nuclear love she was in the muscles. if you look on the visual do while i pull up significantly, personal liability almost getting used to put value,

where do you do oil change? but you also still this is done the newest 3 gall. nobody's sisters to lose you. what i see these the buses. the little gear limitation says this done both the take a fresh look around his life kaleidoscopic isn't just a shifted reality distortion by power to division with no real opinions. fixtures designed to simplify will confuse really would say better wills, and is it just because it shows you few fractured images presented as fast. can you

see through their illusion going underground? can the the dozens of it civilians are reportedly killed in is rarely bombings of southern guys and which had previously been to and considered a safe so loose us policy makes it complicit in the crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes. the west to say says global backlash after washington v. as vito, as a guys as nice fire resolution, nothing un security council following the road from which the new camp stains thousands large through the streets of london, demanding an immediate fruits and the violence and the military spokes. person for