SFO Investigating Henderson's hotel companies

Tuesday 24th May 2011

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) says it is investigating allegations of financial misrepresentation made against two companies owned by Christchurch bankrupt David Henderson.

Property Ventures Ltd (PVL) and Cashel Ventures Ltd (CVL) were involved with the development of the Hotel SO in Christchurch but both were placed in receivership last year.

The SFO was investigating allegations that both companies may have made misrepresentations to South Canterbury Finance (SCF) and Dominion Finance Group (DFG) in order to secure funding, director Adam Feeley said in a statement.

"At this stage, the focus of our investigation is simply to determine the nature of the funding advanced and the statements that were made in order to secure that funding," he said.

The February earthquake had created some difficulties in identifying where some records were and whether they could be recovered, he said.

However, the SFO would talk to relevant parties, including the receivers and liquidators, to identify where pertinent records were held. It already had records from SCF and DFG, which would enable it to identify any material inconsistencies between the funding and borrowing parties, he said.

The Hotel SO was once the offices of the Inland Revenue before Mr Henderson, who has had a long running battle with the department, bought the building and kicked them out.

NZPA

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