Bridgecorp receivers all but give up on Momi

Failed finance company Bridgecorp receivers have all but given up hope of clawing back any money for investors from the ill-fated Momi resort development in Fiji.

Wednesday, January 6th 2010, 8:09AM

by Paul McBeth

PricewaterhouseCoopers receivers' Colin McCloy and Roger Noone told investors in an update last month that the majority of remaining recoverable loans were dependent on high value loans in Australia and Fiji, though they had made no progress since their last update in July.

McCloy and Noone were pessimistic on the outlook for Momi, saying they are investigating the options available to them after the first mortgagee reportedly purchased the property.

The resort was the company's largest exposure in excess of $100 million.

"The potential outcome remains uncertain and it is likely that a complete loss will be suffered on this loan exposure," they said.

The receivers said two hotels in Australia were subject to a receivers' sale by a prior-ranking mortgagee, with one of the sales settled with an expected surplus of A$1.7 million and the other still under negotiation.

Still, no funds can be distributed until "security and potential taxation issues" have been resolved, McCloy and Noone said.

Some 14,000 investors are still unlikely to receive more than 10 cents in the dollar of the $459 million they're owed. The receivers are continuing to pursue actions against some of Bridgecorp's directors and other related parties.

They currently have a claim against Rod Petricevic in respect to excessive remuneration after a successful court judgement against director Rob Roest. Criminal proceedings have been brought against all five directors of the company, and pre-trial hearings are scheduled to begin next month.

Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.

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