BANKRUPT STOREKEEPER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17853, 6 August 1921, Page 11

BANKRUPT STOREKEEPER.

| A CREDITOR'S SECURITIES. j QUESTION OF VALIDITY. The validity of two securities given by a debtor within a few weeks of his bankruptcy was the question discussed yesI terday at a meeting of creditors in the i estate of Arthur William Sands, store i keeper, Horutiu. The official assignee. Mr. W. S. Fisher, 1 who presided, said he had placed the I position before the Crown solicitor, who gave an opinion that the two securities ! could be successfully attacked. He then - | advised Mr. Irving Clarke, tho holder | i of the securities, of this opinion, and asked him whether he intended to con j', test the matter. The sura secured was £300. there being an assignment over the I siock-in-trade and a. second mortgage .lover thfe store property. The position - now was that the security over the stocK had been withdrawn, and Mr. Clarke. . , through Ids solicitor, Mr. Hosking. had I offered to forego the other security pro- "_ i \ided the goods supplied upon credit after ' i the securities were given were treated 'i as preferential. He informed Mr. Hosk ( mg he thought Die offer was too late. | as the creditors themselves had made it % to Mr. Clarke before the bank ■ ruptcy and had been '-turned down.'' > ■ However, he thought, he would put the whole position before the credii U>rs and let them decide. • In reply to a creditor the official as- - | signee said the preference amounted to I £80, but with solicitors' costs it was - ; over £100.

The official assignee added that assuming the Crown solicitor was correct and the security was invalid, the estat* should pay about. 10s 6d "in the £. In addition there might be something from an insurance policy on a motor-car which nad been burned. The gross realisation should come to about 12s in the £. Tf Mr. Clarke's security were valid the creditors would get about 5s in the £. It was decided that the creditors could not see their wav t<-> accept the offer made by Mr. Clarke, through his solicitor, the time having -one bv for them to do so. and failing Mr. Clarke's voluntary withdrawal of what the creditors regard as. and «Ve advised was an invalid security, the tsffina] assignee was instructed to take the necessary legal steps to compel him to do so