Originally Posted by
Balance
Hmmmmm - can see why some people are speculating that it could be Allan Hubbard. Tomorrow will tell :
SFO to make 'Ponzi scheme' arrest
By Adam Bennett
1:12 PM Wednesday Dec 8, 2010
The Serious Fraud Office is poised to swoop on the backer of a ponzi scheme involving "tens of millions" of dollars tomorrow, SFO boss Adam Feeley said.
Appearing before Parliament's law and order committee, Feeley said an arrest would be made tomorrow in the case the SFO had been investigating since the matter was referred to it by the Registrar of Companies.
The matter involved "tens of millions of dollars in investor losses," he said.
Feeley said the issue was initially described by the Registrar of Companies as "an investment fraud, a ponzi scheme" but it was suggested the SFO "tag along" with the Registrar's own inquiries.
"It was very quickly transformed into an SFO investigation.''
Tomorrow's arrest would be followed by "some very serious criminal charges".
Feeley later refused to give further details.
He raised the matter with the committee as an example of the SFO's increased cooperation with other agencies.
A ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that relies on funds from new investors to pay returns to those already involved rather than from actual profits.
SFO visits Hubbard's firm
Tuesday June 22, 2010 Source: ONE News
The Serious Fraud Office has visited the offices of Aorangi Securities Limited in Timaru and confirmed it is investigating the Allan Hubbard-owned company.
The SFO said it wanted to strike up an immediate relationship with the statutory managers sent in to run the firm by the government at the weekend.
Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing and says if given time he could prove that his affairs are above board.
SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said: "The SFO commenced this inquiry only after careful consideration of the information received from the Registrar of Companies."
The government took the unusual step at the weekend of placing Hubbard, his wife Margaret Hubbard, Aorangi Securities and seven charitable trusts into statutory management, following a recommendation from the Securities Commission.
The Registrar of Companies also referred some matters relating to Aorangi Securities to the Serious Fraud Office.
South Canterbury Finance, with which Hubbard is closely associated, is not part of the statutory management order.
Feeley said the SFO's investigation was in response to an earlier investigation by Companies Office staff.
"Based on the information we received from the earlier report, we were satisfied that, not only was it in the public interest to commence an inquiry, but that the inquiry should be conducted under Part 2 of the SFO Act - that is, it should be an investigation of suspected offences involving serious or complex fraud," he said.
The SFO's two initial priorities are to gather evidence and work alongside the statutory managers.
It will examine concerns raised over approximately $134 million of investors funds deposited with Aorangi Securities. The initial stage of the investigation is likely to take several weeks.
"This is an investigation of major importance to our financial markets, and the need for a thorough and fair investigation cannot be compromised by the understandable desire for early answers," Feeley said.