Bad news for most Kloogh investors
THE latest liquidator’s report into the companies operated by disgraced financial adviser Barry Kloogh has good news for some investors, but bad news for most.
Financial Planning Ltd and Impact Enterprises Ltd were placed in liquidation last year, with Kloogh’s clients owed an estimated $15.7 million.
Kloogh has pleaded guilty to a range of charges stemming from business operations which have left hundreds of people out of pocket. He is in custody awaiting a sentencing hearing.
The latest report from the Insolvency Service, released this week, said transactions by Kloogh which dated back to 2012 had been investigated by auditors to try to trace people’s assets.
Kloogh has cooperated with the liquidators, and supplied a list of clients whose money he had not interfered with.
‘‘A review of these showed that this was the case and the relevant investors’ accounts were released to them,’’ the report said.
But only a small number of cases were unaffected by Kloogh’s fraud, it said.
For the majority of anxious investors, it was bad news.
Not only had the liquidators not found any new assets or transactions which could be realised to pay out investors, they were looking into the question of whether ‘‘fictitious profits’’ could be clawed back.
Fictitious profits — sums paid to investors who honestly believed they were returns on their investments, but which were actually money stolen from other investors — could potentially be recovered by the liquidator and added to the pool of money available to all creditors, the report said.
The client’s underlying capital investment was not liable for recovery.
‘‘The liquidator will review whether clawbacks of fictitious profits are available from investors who had received some or all of their money.
‘‘This investigation is, however, ongoing.’’
The platform on which investors believed they could see all their assets had been investigated, and liquidators found that all but one of the ‘‘external assets’’ listed as belonging to them did not exist.
‘‘We have concluded that where an external asset was listed, it represents funds stolen by Mr Kloogh.’’
Custody assets listed on the platform had also been investigated, and liquidators believed no stolen funds from Impact’s accounts had been used to buy assets in another client’s name.
‘‘From this the liquidator has concluded that where a custody asset is shown in the account of an individual client, that asset belongs to that client and ought not to be pooled for the benefit of creditors generally.’’
Kloogh is due to be sentenced at the end of this month.