Hamish McIntosh: Is a Wellington lawyer who was an investor in one of New Zealand’s biggest Ponzi schemes . who has been ordered to pay back the fictitious profits he withdrew.
McIntosh, who lost his appeal for name suppression was an investor in Ross Asset Management (RAM) and was being pursued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “clawback” claim by liquidators.
McIntosh withdrew $954,000 from RAM’s Ponzi-style scheme before it collapsed.
In March the court heard the investor borrowed $500,000 from Westpac to invest with RAM in April 2007 and was paid out $954,000 in November 2011.
In a judgment issued on Tuesday Justice Alan MacKenzie ordered McIntosh to pay to the liquidators $454,047.62. However, he did not have to pay the liquidator his $500,000 investment.
Liquidator John Fisk said he believed the judge had made a fair and balanced assessment .
In his claim Fisk asked for $954,000, which was made up of McIntosh’s original $500,000 “innocent” investment and about $454,0000 in fictitious profits, which he said was other investors’ money.
“We understand why the court made its decision and it’s always difficult to be either black or white in cases like this. It’s a fair assessment.”
The test case decision would not change the view of the liquidator during the next two cases in September.
Fisk said the decision would be helpful because the judge addressed a number of issues that would be relevant in the claims.
The $454,047 would now be put into funds set aside by liquidator to distribute to creditors.
“However, there is a question over how investors claims will be treated. There is still work to be done on this through the courts,” Fisk said.
David Ross, 65, was jailed for 10 years and 10 months in 2013 for operating a fraudulent scheme.
Source:
Story by Collette Devlin. Published 23/05/15
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/69633597/ross-asset-management-investor-hamish-mcintosh-to-repay-454k
Leave a Reply