Norbourg investors urged to file claims
MONTREAL— Liquidators want investors in the Norbourg & Evolution mutualfund company to file claims as soon as possible to improve their chances of getting some of their money back.
Pierre Laporte, of auditors Ernst & Young, said yesterday he has received only 7,200 of the 10,700 forms he needs to make an initial disbursement to Norbourg’s former clients. He would like to issue the first cheques before the holiday period.
“ We want an exact picture of the situation and we want to ensure that each dollar we’re going to distribute goes to the right person.”
Laporte said it is possible that some investors didn’t open the advisory sent to them.
Close to 9,200 people had savings invested in Norbourg mutual funds when Quebec’s financial regulator announced in August it was freezing the company’s assets as it looked into irregularities.
Vincent Lacroix, head of the Norbourg group, is under investigation for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars but no charges have been laid. Lacroix has denied any wrongdoing. A separate class action, launched on behalf of the 9,200 investors, is seeking to reclaim some $ 130 million from Lacroix and Norbourg.
Laporte said there is a lot of work yet involved in liquidating the company’s assets. The liquidator also confirmed that assets to be distributed will not be consolidated and will be doled out on a fundbyfund basis.
According to a report prepared by Ernst & Young in September, $ 61 million of the $75 million remaining with Norbourg investors is in five funds while the remaining 24 funds contain only slightly more than $ 14 million. Quebec’s financial regulator has launched a lawsuit seeking $94 million from Lacroix. It wants investors to get $84 million in alleged misappropriation of funds and has asked for $ 10 million in punitive damages.
Lacroix tried last week to strike down search warrants carried out by Quebec’s financial regulator in August.
Lacroix wants documents seized from the offices of KPMG, Norbourg’s auditor, returned.
According to court documents, Lacroix maintains the seized files were protected by professional privilege and that the search warrant process was “ marked with irregularities.” The province’s financial authority says it needs the documents for its investigation into the alleged misappropriation of the $ 130 million.