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Aorangi Securities Statutory Managers clarify actions
“The unofficial Investor Liaison Group has failed to understand the situation with Aorangi Securities, despite many meetings with them to answer their questions,” said the Statutory Managers for Aorangi Securities today.
“The main misunderstanding is over the status of the $60 million of Aorangi assets which Mrs Hubbard is now seeking to claim as her own. If Mrs Hubbard is successful in Court next year it will deprive Aorangi investors of most of the value of their investments.
“Mr Hubbard first transferred these assets to Aorangi Securities over a 12-month period in 2009 and 2010 but he failed to complete the change of ownership from Mr and Mrs Hubbard’s names. It's like selling your car, but not completing the change of ownership papers properly. Someone else now owns your car, even though it is still registered in your name. As a result, it is the view of the statutory managers that Aorangi Securities has beneficial ownership of the $60 million, even though the assets are in the names of the Hubbards.
“Subsequently, Mr Hubbard attempted to transfer those same assets to several Trusts. The statutory managers purposefully reversed the second transfers because in their view this transaction was not legally valid. The assets were not the Hubbard’s to transfer to another legal entity as they were now owned by Aorangi Securities. Mr Hubbard’s second transaction had no legal validity. This reversal in itself does not resolve beyond doubt the ownership of the assets worth $60 million.
A court ruling around the ownership of these assets is essential to protect investors against future claims of ownership by others.
“The fundamental issue is that the assets owned by Aorangi Securities are still in the names of Mr and Mrs Hubbard, as they were when Mr Hubbard made both sets of transfers. Mr Hubbard publicly stated that the assets belonged to Aorangi and he had told several investors that they would receive what they were owed before Mr and Mrs Hubbard and their family did. A number of investors have provided us with correspondence from Mr Hubbard confirming this very point.
“Since the Statutory Managers commenced proceedings to confirm the ownership, Mrs Hubbard has changed her mind and is now personally contesting Aorangi’s ownership of the $60 million of assets. She wants to keep the assets worth $60 million. It is this action that is causing the significant delay, including having to find every relevant document on record.
“We accept that the realisation that some 70 boxes in storage that contained documents of extreme importance to the case has caused further delays, and how disappointing this is for investors. However, this additional information is now essential given Mrs Hubbard is contesting the ownership of Aorangi assets. Our assessment of the documents is that they significantly improve Aorangi’s case and the likelihood of success. We have also identified additional assets that we now believe belong to Aorangi Securities.
“For investor returns to be maximised, including the ownership of the assets worth $60 million, the statutory managers must win this case. The High Court hearing is now set down for May next year.
“The statutory managers operate with integrity and have a duty to act in the best interests of all Aorangi investors. We are committed to returning as much of their capital back to them as we can. The fees for unwinding Aorangi are updated and provided in each Statutory Managers report for investors. For the sake of transparency we requested that they are reviewed by an independent reviewer appointed by the government and include legal and associated fees as well as our own fees.
“We too are frustrated that this process of unwinding Aorangi Securities and returning monies to investors is so drawn out. We look forward to having Mr Hubbards stated intentions carried out and closure for investors,” concluded the statutory managers.
Further enquiries, please contact:
Michael Dunlop
Acumen Republic
M +64 (0)275 747 587
D +64 (0)4 494 5142
E mdunlop@acumenrepublic.com