LAND DEALER'S FAILURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17597, 9 October 1920, Page 9

LAND DEALER'S FAILURE

DEFICIENCY OF £5810. « HIS UNBOUNDED OPTIMISM." DETAILS REQUIRED IN TWO YEARS. The second meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Edwin James Rollo farmer, of Aucidand, was held yesterday' the ofhcial assignee, Mr. W. S Fisher presiding. Eight proved, and 'five unproved creditors were present. The official assignee said that the bankrupt's schedule showed that the amount owing to unsecured creditor was £3752 and to secured creditors £8792 the esti' mated value of securities being £8734 There were no available assets, and the excess of liabilities over assets was £5810 Ihere were no ordinary trade debts. Of if 7. nearly £2000 was for commission alleged to have been earned by unsecured creators in connection with abortive land transactions In his statement of causes of bankruptcy the bankrupt said Sat about six years ago he met with an accident, which prevented him from doing bard manual labour on his father's farms! lie then started dealing in land. In February, 1918, he was appointed managingdirector of tho Auckland Farm ' Lands Company, at a salary of £1000 a year At that time, as a result of previous land deals, his assets were £3431, and his liaWM- £13,321 Although Cw£ very much behind •he had every reason to believe he would soon be in a good financial position. .He did not, however receive any salary from the, cefcapany, which was unsuccessful. He then continued dealing m land in an effort to recover himself, but several prospective deals fell tnrough, owing to the lack of finance. It looks a very lurid bankruptcy,"- i commented Mr. Fisher. In reply to Mr. Fisher, bankrupt admitted he had no record of moneys paid during last year and it was over two years since, he had kept . a . banking account. He kept no pocket book or diary entries of his tran3a^; Most of his money had been paid through solicitors. He could furnish a statement showing that he paid over £700 in about six large sums, and a number of smaller ones. He had receipts, but some were held by solicitors, and others were packed away. In reply to questions by creditors the bankrupt gave details of transactions. . Mr. R. A. Ramsay, on behalf of the bankrupt, said his main fault had been " his unbounded optimism.™ He had never dealt with anything without some colour of right, and had no intention pi defrauding people. He had, unfortunately, no bank account or system. Always believing that success lay ahead, Be had paid the most pressing creditors from time to time, and hoped to be able to settle completely in future. The meeting carried a resolution requiring the bankrupt to furnish to the official assignee within two years a statement of receipts, aid payments made by him.