(In Statutory Management)
Report to Equiticorp Holdings Ltd debenture stockholders
Dated 20 June 2019
As from 31 March this year, we no longer maintain a physical office for the statutory management. All correspondence, including notifications of change of address and deceased estates, should be directed to the Post Office box or email above.
The Statutory Managers would like to record their appreciation for the dedicated long service of Mrs Barbara Knauf who has now retired. Barbara was one of the early Equiticorp staff members and has stayed on since the start of the statutory management, running the debenture registry.
2. Cheah loan
At the time of our last letter, we were awaiting our appeal of the High Court ruling that directed the liquidator of the Malaysian property-owning company to pay the proceeds of sale of the property to a Singaporean bank.
Our appeal was heard, spread over a number of days in October and December 2018 and January 2019. The Court of Appeal handed down judgment in our favour, in late February 2019. It overturned the High Court ruling and ordered the bank to repay the funds it had received back to the liquidator of the property company.
The bank then lodged an appeal with the Federal Court, the highest court in the Malaysian legal system. The bank also applied for a stay of execution of the Court of Appeal's order to repay the funds, so it could retain the moneys until the completion of the Federal Court appeal.
In April 2019, the Court of Appeal heard the bank's stay of execution application and declined it. The bank then applied to the Federal Court to review that decision.
The stay matter was heard by the Federal Court in June 2019. It agreed with the Court of Appeal and instructed the bank to repay the money within one month. The Federal Court further instructed the liquidator of the property company not to make any distribution of funds until all the winding-up provisions have been complied with and until all rights and obligations of all the parties have been determined.
The hearing of the main appeal in the Federal Court is set down for the end of July 2019. We will post an update to our website - www.equiticorp.co.nz - with the outcome, once a decision has been handed down by the Federal Court.
Due to the uncertainty of the outcome of the litigation, and with the winding-up of the parent company and Mr Cheah's bankrupt estate still to come, we do not wish to speculate on what possible recovery might ultimately be made by Equiticorp, or the timing thereof.
In our previous letters, we have reported on the criminal charges being brought against Mr Cheah's brother for abetting a criminal breach of trust in relation to the alleged misappropriation of 10 million Malaysian ringgits (approx. NZ$3.6 million). The hearings are still on-going.
3. Next report
We will write again in 12 months time, around 30 June 2020, or sooner should there be any significant developments. In the meantime, we will post any updates on our website.
B G Stowell
Statutory Manager
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