Barry Keon emailed a status report to all participants in the Cornwell v Syms Purvis Curtin and Perris case yesterday. The email went into a little more detail than yesterday’s article on VoV.

If you are a participant and have not yet received your email, please check your spam folder.

If you have recently changed email addresses and forgotten to update us, please email your updated details to both vern@vov.co.nz and bkeon@slingshot.co.nz.

After reviewing the Armitage v Church case, and the successful application by Bret Jackson and Kenneth Swain for summary judgement/strike out of the claims against them in the Luscombe v O’Sullivan, Syms, Purvis, Gaylard, Jackson, Swain, Curtin and Perris case, the following situation can be described. (more…)

This is another of the Dennis King Law cases from New Plymouth. Karen Towt of Dennis King Law and barrister Susan Hughes were acting for Charles Luscombe, Dorothy Turner and Kathleen Whyte, being the executors named in the will of their mother, Winifred Luscombe. (more…)

In a hearing in the High Court at Wellington earlier this year, Neil Armitage sued for losses arising from investments in failed finance companies.

He argued that his financial advisor, Mrs Carey Church of Moneyworks NZ Ltd, was amongst other things negligent in recommending he invest in finance companies that were riskier than appropriate. (more…)

There have recently been some important developments in the Vestar legal case.

Over the course of the next week I will report on two important precedents and the implications for our case, then report on the status of our case.

Stay tuned for instalment number one tomorrow.

An update was emailed to participants in the legal case this afternoon. If you haven’t received a copy and believe you should, please email vern@vov.co.nz.

The “Cornwell” case is progressing well says Barry Keon, J.P.

Keon is the client liaison officer charged with acting as the interface between the large group of Vestar investors funding the legal case and barrister Lawrence Herzog’s instructing solicitor.

The Cornwells…
The test case is being brought by Bruce & Janine Cornwell who were Vestar clients and are claiming damages for their losses in various finance companies – which the investment committee recommended – that have subsequently failed.

Some of the related-party investments that investors were put into by Vestar are now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

(more…)

Special thanks to DS who observed that “Nothing is slower than the justice system” and tipped me off to the following grook by Piet Hein…

(more…)

New Plymouth firm Dennis King Law served seven sets of proceedings last week and applied to have all proceedings heard in the High Court.

The firm is the second to take action on behalf of family trusts against former directors of Vestar and members of its investment committee, including Donal Curtin, Kelvin Syms and Simon Purvis.

Barrister Lawrence Herzog represents investors in the first case and has a significant head start (more…)

VOV understands that the current situation with the Vestar court case is as follows… (more…)

Lawrence Herzog, the barrister managing the Vestar legal case, has emailed an update on the Vestar proceedings to participants.

If you believe you are part of the Vestar legal action and do not receive the update, please email herzog@xtra.co.nz with details.

27 April 2009 update: We have received the following note from the instructing solicitor Nigel Faigan…

I confirm that Lawrence has advised me that proceedings have now been filed in the High Court at Auckland. Lawrence has sent me a note with the file number allocated by the High Court Registry.

Please update your website to show people that proceedings have been filed. Please remove my name and telephone number from the website.

Please direct any future enquiries direct to Lawrence Herzog.

Investors may be aware Vestar was placed into liquidation by the directors/shareholders of the company. Vestar appointed its own liquidator, which in the normal scheme of things this is not a problem.

However, the directors had a fiduciary duty of care to their clients – a matter in which we believe they dismally failed. Therefore Vestar investors who have lodged legal claims against the company should also (more…)

The number of disaffected investors to register their interest with the Exposing Unacceptable Financial Activities group in pursuing action against Vestar has grown to 248.

At a July meeting of EUFA, 45 investors gave the go-ahead to prepare a case against the now defunct Vestar financial planning group.

EUFA coordinator Suzanne Edmonds announced today that the number of investors who have registered their interest has grown to 248.

“Sadly a significant number are (more…)

Having already lost up to a quarter of a billion dollars in failed finance company investments, clients of the now defunct Vestar financial planning group are about to lose again.

EUFA coordinator Suzanne Edmonds is championing the rights of disaffected investors who “we believe have lost money as a result of Vestar’s negligent investment advice,” says Edmonds.

But unless investors file notification of a claim within the next ten days, the amount of compensation available to them will reduce substantially and they will lose (more…)

Two legal cases are underway, one based in New Plymouth and one in Auckland…

New Plymouth
Dennis King Law is preparing a case for Taranaki investors. They have recruited (more…)

Yesterday at an EUFA meeting, 45 disaffected Vestar investors gave barrister Lawrence Herzog the go-ahead to prepare a case against Vestar. (more…)

Over 30 disaffected Vestar clients met in Auckland yesterday to look at ways of recovering losses due to finance company collapses. 99% of EUFA members went to a professional financial advisor for advice which included the financial advisory company Vestar.

The meeting organised by EUFA (Exposing Unacceptable Financial Activities Inc. Soc.) was the first of Vestar client meetings planned from Northland to Invercargill with further meetings expected. Vestar clients from throughout New Zealand are expected to join the action.

The mood of the meeting yesterday was sombre coupled with determination to seek accountability. A litigation barrister who advised the meeting on the next step in the legal process explained to the aggrieved investors the actions we can take as a group.
(more…)