A MATAMATA BANKRUPTCY.

Putaruru Press, Volume V, Issue 177, 24 March 1927, Page 1

A MATAMATA BANKRUPTCY.

ADVERSE MOTION CARRIED Assignee Dissatisfied. The adjourned meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Robert Emmett Burke, of Arapuni, formerly stock agent of Matamata, was held in the Matamata Courthouse anteroom on Friday, Mr. G. N. Morris, Official Assignee, presiding. BANKRUPT’S STATEMENT. In a letter to the Official Assignee bankrupt stated that there were several small accounts not entered in his list of unsecured creditors, as he had no records of them. They would be furnished at the meeting. Continuing, he said he attributed his position to his people not fulfilling a promise to him and also buying a property at excessive value. If given sufficient time he was sure he could pay every penny, tie had no assets. The list of creditors, with the exception of one all residents, of the Matamata district, numbered eight, the unsecured debts totalling £363 14s 9d. Mr. W. C. Hewitt represented one creditor. Asked by the Official Assignee for an explanation' as to why he had not answered his letters, bankrupt said he had received two letters since he had been at Arapuni. His mails had been delayed. The Official Assignee said a bankrupt was expected to notify a change of address. He had done a very poor best to assist his creditors and had put them to additional expense to get him to a meeting. LENGTHY EXAMINATION. Under examination bankrupt said he was married and had five children. His wife was possessed of about £3O worth of furniture and beyond that they had no assets. He commenced duties- as a stock agent in Matamata in 1916 at £2 10s a week, and his wages rose to £5 10s. He seemed to be able to live better on £2 10s than £5 10s. He had no assets when he commenced his job. In 1921 he borrowed £IOO from one of the creditors with a promise to pay in twelve months. In 1923 he was sued for this amount. Bankrupt had a p.n. for £3OO when he borrowed the money, but it was not due and he wanted the money to carry on stock dealing on his own account. He kept no account of these operations. Judgment was entered against him in 1924 for £l4O which he had borrowed to pay off other debts. The Assignee: This means that either your dealings were not successful or you were not living within your income. Bankrupt: No; I put £7OO cash into a property and lost the lot. Another amount of £SO was borrowed to pay rates and interest on a mortgage. A letter was here put in from a creditor who had not proved for £62 10s. This was correct and admitted by bankrupt as being due for rent just prior to his leaving for Tauranga. Bankrupt admitted sending his wife and family on holiday nearly every year, but his wife used her own money. Questioned regarding his expectation of being able to pay his creditors, bankrupt said in 1920 his mother promised him £SOO when a certain property was sold. He got nothing under his father’s will, but his mother had said he would secure a legacy. He was sharemilking for his father at one time, and when the Turanga-o-moana property was sold they had had no settlement. He expected that he would get a sum when another property was sold. He had not spoken to his father for several years prior to his death in January, 1922. The property mentioned had been in his mother’s name, but apparently it had been transferred. At the time he contracted his last debt he hoped to be able to pay it out of wages. He still had a chance of getting money out of his mother’s estate. The Assignee: Did any of these creditors know at the time you negotiated the loans that you owed money to others ?—I didn’t tell them. Did you think that fair?—l can see now that it wasn’t; but I always ex-

pected money from my mother. To Mr. Hewitt, bankrupt said he could not say what property his mother had. He had not seen his father’s will. 'ihe Assignee: You didn’t seem to have worried much about it. Your mother’s promise is very indefinite. To Mr. Hewitt: He had claimed his back wages and dues from his father but the latter had compromised by stating that he would see bankrupt alright. That would be about five years before his death.

A nephew also owed him money. He estimated that his father and nephew owed him about £6OO. He had abandoned the claim on this at the instigation of his mother; not so that his creditors would not receive any of it. A creditor: It’s funny bankrupt did not see his father’s will. Bankrupt: One of my creditors knows as much about it as I do. To Mr. Hewitt: It was some months after his father’s death that he made inquiry regarding the will. The Assignee: That’s most peculiar. Bankrupt: I was in correspondence with my mother and she became ill in Napier. The Assignee: You don’t know now how you stand.

To Mr. Hewitt: Another man owed him £7O, but had since died. This was money bankrupt and his wife had. They could not recover this as there was nothing in the estate. His wife still had an interest in her father’s estate, but would not receive anything until her mother dies. He couid not say what interest this would be. To Mr. Hewitt: He practica’iy always had to keep help in the i-ouse on account of his wife’s health. Do you go to the races?—Oc”ssionally. I have only been one:: in four years. Do you drink?—l am not a teetotaler. .

In answer to a further question, bankrupt said that at the time he borrowed from one creditor he was doing the best he could to live within his means. He several times had to borrow money to pay interest and principal on his property. A creditor said bankrupt borrowed the money from him on the allegation that several Matamata men owed him substantial sums of money. Bankrupt: I believe one man still owes me £7O. Mr. Hewitt: If you had really expected money from your father’s will why didn’t you inquire of the estate’s solicitors?—Well, I havn’t had much experience of business. Despite a creditor’s statement to the contrary bankrupt affirmed that he had prospects of paying the loan out of money he was to receive from his mother. A CATTLE DEAL. At this period another creditor, whose amount was not proved, put in an appearance and bankrupt agreed that he owed £55 to this cred.tor. Bankrupt here explained at length arrangements he had for using creditors’ names in connection with the purchase of stock. He was not allowed by his employers to purchase in his own name. A creditor: He has never purchased a hoof for me. Bankrupt: That is not correct. The creditor: He rang my wife and told her he had purchased cattle for me. The cattle never came along but I was charged with them. Bankrupt: The cattle cost me £55 10s and I sold for £37 10s. The money went into my account at the bank and went with the other money. NOT FAIR. Another creditor: I lent you £IOO on a p.n. of £3OO. What happened to it?—l sold it. The Assignee: Did you pay the £100?—No. The Assignee: Do you think that’s fair ? Bankrupt: No; I can see I made a mess of things. A creditor: Why didn’t you give me the chance of buying?—l did. The creditor: After it had been sold. To another creditor, bankrupt said he had borrowed from one creditor and put the money in the bank. Bankrupt: I reckon you owe me £7O for heifers. The creditor: You bought a bull off (Continued in Next Column.)

me in the name of Borthwicks? —Yes. The creditor': Borthwicks never received the bull.—l bought it for myself. Are you supporting your wife now ? —Yes. Did you give her the money to bet with at Paeroa yesterday? No; I haven’t seen hei for six weeks. She is still at Tauranga. What are you sending your wife per week now ?—All except my board. I have had broken time at Arapuni. To the same creditor, bankrupt said he had not raced a horse in his own interest in 1924. It belonged to a trainer who could not go on with it. ALLEGED BETTING.

The creditor: Plow many bets did you have at the Tauranga races? One.

The creditor: I made it my business to watch you, and you had six and your wife had a similar number. How many golf or tennis championships has your wife won since you have been in this mess, and since she has been ill ?—I couldn’t tell you. She played outdoor sports on the doctor’s orders. How many clubs has your wife belonged to ?—She belonged to the Tauranga Golf Club last season. A creditor: Have you had any cheques dishonoured in the district? —T couldn’t say. Was one dishonoured with Mr. Chalmers? —I couldn’t say. POKER? Have you played poker lately ? Ask yourself. The Assignee: Have you ever played poker?—l think every one has. ASSIGNEE DISSATISFIED. The Assignee said the position seemed hopeless, but he was thoroughly dissatisfied with the manner in which bankrupt bad treated himself and his creditors since his bankruptcy. He appeared to be sheltering behind his mother all the time. Bankrupt: No, I’m not. The Assignee: You always came back to that in your evidence. I am quite satisfied that if your creditors care to they can justly have you prosecuted for obtaining money without having any prospect of paying. ADVERSE MOTION. A motion was carried unanimously: “ That the Official' Assignee be requested to place all available evidence before the Crown Solicitor with a view to prosecuting bankrupt for failing to keep proper books; for contracting debts when he could not have had at the time when certain of his debts were contracted any reasonable or probable expectation of being able to pay the same as well as his other debts.”