A couple of years ago the Portus Hedge Fund collapsed into the quagmire of bankruptcy and ... to no great surprise, corruption.
I didn't really have a clue how persistent the bankruptcy trustees are until in the early 1990s I discovered that KPMG still had Abacus Cities on the books as an active bankruptcy - for a company which had collapsed over a decade earlier.
Well, it would seem that the long arm of something far more persistent than the law has caught up with Boaz Manor, who fled to Israel shortly after Portus collapsed.
Mr. Manor was barred from leaving Israel under a court order, but the travel ban was lifted recently by the Israeli District Court, which imposed stringent requirements on his travel. He will be accompanied to the airport in Israel by his lawyer and a lawyer for KPMG, and KPMG's lawyer will accompany him on the flight.
“We are extremely pleased with the reported decision as it ensures that Mr. Manor will face justice in Canada while ensuring that the rights of the investors to recover assets from him are preserved,” KPMG senior vice-president Robert Rusko said in a statement.
Perhaps the more distressing part of this is the impact of Manor and his companions on the assets of investors:
Also Tuesday, KPMG said it has made an interim payment to Portus customers who lost money when the company collapsed. The initial payment of 15 cents on the dollar of proven claims will go to more than 16,000 customers. The cheques were mailed on Oct. 22, the receiver said.
Yes, any investment has a risk to it. I appreciate that. But to lose 85 cents on every dollar - especially when Portus was talking about a "buy-in" amount that was around $10,000 minimum, that $10,000 translated into an $8500 loss. Ouch! (Even more ouch for investors who played more money into it)
I look forward to Portus' leadership facing justice. I was more than a little bit upset to learn that Manor had "skipped town".
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