Liabilities of accountant estimated at $1 million

Press, 26 May 1983, Page 4

Liabilities of accountant estimated at $1 million

The former manager of Motueka Motors, Ltd, who operated three finance companies had liabilities estimated at more than $1 million when he had himself declared bankrupt this week, Mr Justice Holland was told in the High Court yesterday. A petition to have Graham James Anderson, an accountant and prominent rugby referee, adjudicated bankrupt, was withdrawn on the application of counsel, Mr 0. T. Alpers, for the petitioning creditors, Mervyn John Hall, a forklift driver, of Nelson, and Andrea Hall, his wife. Mr Alpers told the Court that Mr Anderson had the previous day filed his own application to have himself

declared bankrupt. Mr Alpers applied for and was granted an order for costs. An order was issued in the High Court on May 9 placing Mr Anderson’s estate in the hands of the Official Assignee at Christchurch, Mr I. A. Hansen, as receiver and manager, which was an unusual procedure, said Mr Alpers. Before taking over Motueka Motors, Ltd, Mr Anderson was a partner in a firm of chartered accountants at Nelson. He resigned from that firm and moved to Motueka. Mr Alpers said in a memorandum in support of Mr Hall’s petition for bankruptcy that the Official Assignee had spent a number

of days investigating Mr Anderson’s affairs and business interests in Nelson, Motueka and Christchurch, and he was satisfied that there would be a very large deficiency. Mr Hansen considered that the liabilities would be more than $1 million and that the assets would be between $150,000 and $200,000. Affidavits were to have been filed stating that Mr and Mrs Hall and two other creditors were ordinary working people who had invested their life savings in Mr Anderson’s finance companies. A total dividend of not more than 10 cents in the dollar was likely. Creditors’ funds were invested with three finance companies operated by Mr

Anderson — Motueka Finance, Admiral Finance and Maitai Finance. The funds so invested amounted to $575,000 but the preliminary investigation disclosed that there was only about $140,000 to represent those investments. As the finance companies had not been incorporated it meant that the funds amounted to personal loans to Mr Anderson. An affidavit stated that in the estimate of Mr Anderson’s assets was an advance of about $25,000 to his de facto wife, which was made after Mr and Mrs Hall filed a creditor’s petition about the middle of April to have Mr Anderson declared bankrupt.

It was disclosed in an affidavit that Mr Anderson

and his de facto wife moved out of their Motueka home with their belongings about midnight. The main ground in the petition for bankruptcy was that Mr Anderson had departed from his dwelling house with intent to defeat or delay his creditors. On a letter-head of the Motueka Finance Company was a message signed by Mr Anderson to Mr and Mrs Hall, which referred to the excellent results achieved by the company and an assurance that good returns could be expected in the future. The letter written in June, 1982, urged Mr and Mrs Hall to increase their investment in the finance company and suggested that they might like to urge their friends to invest.