01 May 2017

Forestlands – update for investors

1 May 2017

The FMA stated on March 22 that we had ongoing inquiries into the Forestlands companies.  Since that date we have referred some matters to the Serious Fraud Office. We will continue to complete our inquiries in relation to financial markets issues.

During our inquiries we identified funds worth $18 million, and in agreement with Forestlands, these funds were placed in trust. This money remains in trust, earning interest.

This decision to place these funds in trust was taken to protect and preserve the identified funds and investors’ interests while the FMA’s inquiries continue.

We want to ensure that Forestlands has established a process for distribution that is proper and fair for all investors.

We understand that the Forestlands companies did not each own a set share in the pooled forestry assets.  Instead, each of the 18 different companies owned specific forests, each of which were at different ages and stages, and some of which had been partly harvested.

It is not the FMA’s role to determine the process for allocating funds among companies or investors. The responsibility for that remains with the companies and their director. To date, we have not received a satisfactory response from the director to our questions on these matters.

The Forestlands companies have also failed to file financial statements. Our investigation into these and other matters is ongoing.

We cannot provide any further information at this time.

Investor contact:
Contact us

Media contact:
Edwin Mitson
021 702 036
[email protected]


Related

Case: Forestlands