Finance firm’s receivership finally over
Receivers have delivered their closing report on Capital + Merchant Finance 13 years after their appointment.
It reveals 7,500 debenture investors have ended up being paid just $15.2 million of the $167m owed when the company collapsed.
Receivers Grant Graham, pictured left, and Brendon Gibson, right, of Calibre Partners note all that money was gleaned through legal action, including against the failed finance company’s auditors, legal advisers, and trustee.
Since Capital + Merchant’s collapse in November 2007, its two sets of receivers have been paid $4.7m in fees, while legal fees accounted for a further $4.3m, reports the NBR.
Mezzanine lender Fortress was the only creditor to emerge whole and its first ranking security allowed it to recover the $22.6m it was owed.
Capital + Merchant Finance had four directors – Neall Nicholls, Owen Tallentire, Colin Ryan and Robert Sutherland – who all found themselves in the dock following the collapse of the business.
Nicholls, Tallentire, and former director Wayne Douglas, were found guilty in 2012 of fraud charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office. Nicholls and Douglas were jailed for seven-and-a-half years each while Tallentire was sentenced to five years.
The trio, along with Ryan and Sutherland, were also found guilty on charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority related to false statements in prospectus documents.