LATE OWNER OF KAWAU.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 247, 18 October 1922, Page 9

LATE OWNER OF KAWAU.

MR. A. J. FARMER'S AFFAIRS. REPORT OF COMMITTEE. The committee appointed to investigate the affairs of Andrew Joseph Farmer, formerly of Kawau, furnished I its report to a meeting of creditors he'd lat the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. The Official Assignee. Mr. W. S. Fisher, presided. The committee saiil that while Hammond certainly did not send accounts to • Farmer, he did not keep him in the ■ dark as the bankrupt complained. On the contrary, while Farmer was In Australia, he kept Hammond in the dark. The general conclusion to be from Hammond and (.'racknell's books was that they showed a frank and accurate record of debit* and credits passing through their hands on Farmer's behalf. j Hammond kept Farmer afloat to the ■end. and it was, perhaps, due to Hammond and Cracknel] to remark that I bankrupt's drawings and insistent deI mands upon them from Australia were undoubtedly one of the chief causes of i the failure of the firm. After touching upon various aspects of the bankrupt's position from the time of leaving New Zealand in 1912 until I his return in 1919, the report went on jto deal with specific transactions conj cerning which the committee thought some further action might be authorised by the creditors. The right of the bankrupt's solicitors to havo transferred about £640 held on trust for Farmer to themselves on account of their costs ! seemed questionable. In any case the bill of costs seemed an enormous one for the short period it covered. Tn conclusion of its report the committee had only to say that its examination, thougii failing to trace any concealed asset belonging to the bankrupt, had, nevertheless, indicated a most unsatisfactory state of affairs with regard to certain transactions. The committed recommended: (1) That further inquiry "ne made and legal opinion taken a« to the Langham Hotel transaction; the launch Millie; the furniture, the proceeds of which was claimed ;by the mortgagees; the rights ■of bankrupt's solicitors with resard to j their bill of coets; and the validity of I the cub-mortgage. (2) That a proper I investigation and report be made by an I accountant, preferably Mr. Eeam, \v'io I already had knowledge of many of j bankrupt's financial dealings, including I all safes or mortgages of his prope-ty since his return to New Zealand in 1919. (3) That the advice of the Crown Law Department be sought ac to whether 'bankrupt should not be dealt with under the penal provisions of the bankruptcy law. Under separate letter the committee advised the Assignee that certain persons, whose names it was not deemed advisable to disclose, should be summoned to give evidence before him. In regard to the question of the mineral rights of Kawau and the etatement by the bankrupt that the Japanese Government at one time had offered £100,000 for them, the committee stated that there was ample evidence in Ham- • mond's correspondence to show that no ! such offer ever appeared to ha\e been [made; and, further, though there were j evidently some negotiations by Farmer jin Sydney with persons representing Japanese interests, it wae not. clear that these negotiations were on behalf of the Japanese Government. A statement furnished 'by Mr. Eeam showed that the bankrupt's receipts totalled £20.634, and indicated that no less than £14,273 was received from borrowed money. In reply to the report eft the eommitj tee, the bankrupt in a statement said the committee's general observation was manifestly unfair to him, as he gave a I power of attorney to Burton and Harai mond to manage his affairs, and they as , solicitors would know more about "the logal position of hie property than he as a layman could be expected to know. He denied allegations that he had been extravagant. It was incorrect that his ■ solicitors claimed a lien of £330 over I his Wellington property. He also deprej cated any suggestion that he laid by any moneys handled by him between 1919 and the date of his bankruptcy. The meeting decided that the recommendations of the committee should be < carried out. The Assignee was also inj etructed to call tenders for the Mansion I House property at Kawau.