ESTATE OF £116,000

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1034, 26 July 1930, Page 1

ESTATE OF £116,000

BANKRUPTCY PETITION AGAINST SOLICITOR LIABILITIES OF £BO,OOO Seeking to have an Auckland solicitor, Ewen William Alison, the younger, and his wife, Winnie Alison, adjudged bankrupts, Mrs. Agnes Boyd, of Tauranga, applied to Mr. Justice Smith in the Supremo Court yesterday for an order of adjudication. The estate was valued at £ 116,000, and the aggregate claims of 39 creditors was £ 80,000. Th© greater proportion of the estate was a Takapuna property, which It was stated had depreciated in value, and in charge of which a manager had been placed in the interests of the creditors. Tho bankruptcy notice was served on June 19 of this year, according to Mr. Grant, who appeared for the petitioning creditor. Following this proceeding, counsel understood that the debtors had both assigned their estate, although the document signed by them was undated, and had appended to it the signatures of four or five creditors. Up till that point no mention of the assignment had been made. Mr. Northcroft, for the debtors, stated that the estate virtually passed into the control of creditors about April, 1928, when the Bank of New Zealand appointed Mr. R. A. Spin ley to control it. All the creditors except Mrs. Boyd desired the control of the estate to be carried on as during the past two years. He asserted that counsel for the petitioning creditor had been fully aware of the controversy between Mrs. Boyd and the remainder of the creditors. The liabilities to unsecured creditors amounted to approximately £66,000, and the debts owing to unsecured creditors approximately £ 14,000. He claimed that the best interests of the creditors would be served by continuing the present control of the estate, and that the prospects of creditors should not be destroyed by granting a petition. The petitioning creditor, Mrs. Boyd, gave evidence that both debtors still owed her £528 on a judgment summons ACCOUNTANTS EVIDENCE Robert Arthur Spinley, public accountant, said he had been intimately associated with debtors’ affairs since April, 1928. At that time they had become embarrassed through a building scheme at Takapuna, under which they sold to purchasers, who made applications for Government loans. The houses had cost at that time £IB.OOO, and when the Government failed to advance loans separate mortgages were arranged up to £13,000. A further arrangement was made with the Bank of New Zealand on condition that witness supervised the property. A number of purchasers left the property, so that in December last .the income was not sufficient to mest the outgoings.” On December 4" the creditors were called together, there being 37 present, representing debts of £67,000. It was decided to carry on with the existing arrangement. The assets of the estate were £116,000, and the liabilities £79.000, at this time, continued witness. A detailed report and balance sheet was presented at a second meeting of creditors, and a committee of four business men was appointed to act with witness. The committee recommended on January 23 that the estate should be nursed, and time given to the debtors, and that the estate should be' assigned to witness. A resolution in favour of assignment was lost becaue creditors feared that might prejudice their assets. The debtors agreed to assign their estate at any time within six months if called upon. LOSS OF £2,000 A YEAR To Mr. Grant, witness said the working account of the estate showed a loss of more than £2.000 a year, but he could not say whether the position would be better or worse this year. He admitted that there was a certain amount of unpleasantness over the assignment, but this was caused through Mr. Alison thinking that he (witness) was delving into his business. Mr Grant: Because of your ingenuity you found that he had an asset in another man’s name? —It was .not ingenuity. By close attention to the affairs of the estate I found that he was acquiring an interest in another property. Mr. Grant: He did not tell you about it? —I asked him about it, and he supplied me with the information. Mr. Grant: Did not Mr. Dyson threaten that he would make Alison bankrupt if be did not assign?—There was some pressure of that kind. I believe Mr. Dyson was jockeyed off the committee after that?—l don't think you could say thatJames Osburne-Lilly, a solicitor, who had acted on behalf of a number of the creditors, described the negotiations for realising part of the estate, a North Auckland property at Mount Carmel, containing some of the richest deposits of gum in New ZealandOn behalf of a group of Australian businessmen, five engineers had examined the property and gave most optimistic reports on it- A lease had actually been granted to these businessmen on terms which were most satisfactory to the estate. Questioned by Mr. Grant, witness said that the capital of the company formed to work the property was £IOO,OOO. Tlis Honour: You admit it is a pretty nebulous assignment at the present, don’t you, Mr. Northcroft? Mr. Northcroft: I submit it as a complete assignment, because the debtors have both signed. The creditors throughout have unanimously, with the exception of the petitioning creditor, desired this very state of affairs. His Honour reserved his decision.