Christmas payout on the cards for RSB holders

Rural Super Bonds investors are likely to receive another payout before Christmas, boosting the 55c in the dollar they've received so far.

Wednesday, September 22nd 1999, 12:00AM

Rural Super Bonds' investors are likely to receive another payout before Christmas, boosting the 55c in the dollar they've received so far.

RSB scheme Trustee, Tower Trust, has just mailed annual accounts to investors and managing director Jim Minto says it's making good progress since appointing receivers and property managers a month ago.

Tower Trust had been trying to conduct an orderly wind-up of the RSB scheme since last November in tandem with founder Apple Fields, but became "increasingly unhappy" about working with that company. Last month it appointed receivers and property managers to a bunch of Apple Fields' subsidiary companies owning a share of properties secured by the scheme, while Minto claimed that Apple Fields had "thwarted" the process.

In return, Apple Fields managing director Tom Kain shot back that it was ludicrous that the parties couldn't agree. He said that Tower Trust's move to appoint receivers was totally unnecessary and legally invalid and his company would be forced to take court action if satisfactory resolution couldn't be reached. By then, the wind-up process had already been before the courts three times at a total cost of around $900,000.

However, Kain said today that Apple Fields and Tower Trust "seemed to be working together" and he wasn't considering any further legal action at this stage.

In his latest letter to investors, Minto says that Tower Trust has been working closely with the receivers over the past month on a number of property sales. "One property goes to auction at the end of this month and we expect significant progress by the end of the year".

The RSB super scheme has around 1300 members who are owed a total of nearly $13 million.

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