Court report: a sorry tale of the misuse of other people’s money
Hamish McNicol talks about the mastermind who should have known better. With special feature audio.
An Australian court has this week detailed the dishonest acts of people “who should of known better,” people who last year pleaded guilty to Securities Act charges in New Zealand regarding a related company.
On Monday, two former directors of OPI Pacific Finance were found to have breached directors’ and officers’ duties by the Supreme Court of Queensland.
OPI, formerly MFS Pacific Finance, provided finance to commercial property developers and investors but went into receivership in 2009, before being placed in liquidation two years later.
More than 10,000 investors were owed about $247 million and have so far been repaid about 30.23c in the dollar.
Directors David Anderson, Craig White, Mark Lacy and Jason Maywald all received community service sentences and were collectively ordered to pay $A400,000 for distribution to investors after pleading guilty to two Securities Act charges last year.
But this week, Messrs Anderson and White were also found liable for breaching duties as former executives of MFS Investment Management, OPI’s parent company.
Mr White was labelled the “mastermind” behind the scheme, who, along with Mr Anderson, directed transactions be explained by an attempt to “recharacterise them as investments” which “had not been realised in any concrete form such as to justify the payments.”
“When all is said and done – and much has been said at least – this remains a sorry tale of the misuse of other people’s money by those who should have known better,” the court says.
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NBR Radio
Thu, 26 May 2016
Thu, 26 May 2016
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Court report: a sorry tale of the misuse of other people’s money
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