Four charged with fraud over $40M loan facility

Thursday 16 February 2017 09:52 AM

Four charged with fraud over $40M loan facility from ANZ Bank to develop Waldorf Celestion

By Jonathan Underhill

Feb. 16 (BusinessDesk) - Four people have been charged with fraud over a $40 million loan facility obtained from ANZ Bank New Zealand to finance the development of the Waldorf Celestion Apartment Hotel in Auckland, the Serious Fraud Office says.

Property developer Leonard John Ross, company director Michael Wehipeihana, self-employed consultant Vaughn Stephen Foster and one other who has name suppression each face four charges of 'obtaining by deception' and two charges of 'using forged documents' to secure the credit facility for the company Emily Projects Ltd to fund the development.

“The SFO alleges that the defendants conspired to mislead ANZ to secure a loan facility," said SFO director Julie Read, in a statement. "The banks are entitled to expect that businesses will provide accurate information in support of their loan applications and a failure to do so may have cost implications for all.”

Ross is listed as the sole director and largest shareholder of Emily Projects, which was put into liquidation in December 2011 by special resolution of shareholders. ANZ Bank was listed as the only secured creditor, in the first liquidators' report. The final liquidators' report, dated October 2015, showed unsecured creditors were paid $420,301, or 11.8 cents in the dollar.

Wehipeihana is among six shareholders, according to the Companies Office.

(BusinessDesk)

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