The statutory managers of Allan Hubbard's Aorangi Investments and Hubbard Management Funds are warning investors of a bogus phone survey on Hubbard by someone claiming to be from the Ministry of Economic Development.
The statutory managers, Richard Simpson, Trevor Thornton and Graeme McGlinn of Grant Thornton, said neither the Ministry of Economic Development nor Grant Thornton had any knowledge of the survey, and nor did they sanction it.
“We have received information that investors in Aorangi Investments and Hubbard Management Funds are being contacted by telephone by someone saying that they have been contracted by the Ministry of Economic Development to undertake a survey on investors with regards to Allan Hubbard," Grant Thornton said.
"The person doing the survey has said that the investor contact information details have been supplied to them by Grant Thornton NZ Ltd. This is not true. Neither the MED nor Grant Thornton have any knowledge of this survey, nor do we sanction it.”
Aorangi, Hubbard, his wife Jean and several associated charitable trusts were placed in government inforced statutory management on June 20. In their first report the statutory managers said they had frozen NZ$70 million in Hubbard Management Funds, a vehicle they weren't previously aware of where the accounts were hand written. Grant Thornton's third report, the most recent one, detailed new losses, projected misery returns for investors, undocumented loans, related party loans and the use of a private investigator to try and track down borrowers who are overseas.
The Serious Fraud Office is also investigating and expects to either lay charges or close its investigation within weeks.
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