Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Business

'Ponzi scheme' clients overpaid

NZME. regionals
24 Feb, 2016 03:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nearly 100 clients of a Christchurch ponzi scheme forex firm got paid out $2.5 million more than they put into the business.

Nearly 100 clients of a Christchurch ponzi scheme forex firm got paid out $2.5 million more than they put into the business.

Nearly 100 clients of a Christchurch company which a judge says was "running a simple Ponzi scheme" got paid out $2.5 million more than they put into the business.

Liquidators are trying to claw back some of this money and have served formal legal notices on 12 Arena Capital investors.

"We prefer to avoid formal legal action but it is in the best interests of all Arena's other clients for us to take legal action where satisfactory repayment arrangements cannot be agreed," co-liquidator Neale Jackson said yesterday.

Arena Capital, which traded as BlackfortFX, has been in receivership since last May after the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) froze its assets and was put into liquidation last August.

The firm is being probed by both the FMA and the Serious Fraud Office.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The liquidators had reached repayment agreements with 21 of the 95 clients who got paid out more than they put in. Just over $190,000 has been recovered from them so far.

The liquidators are in negotiations with some other clients, although say others are refusing to speak to them or will not enter into repayment arrangements.

"We intend to take further action against these clients," Jackson said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While Arena Capital marketed itself as a foreign exchange trader, Jackson said last August there was no evidence that it had traded or generated profits for itself or its 1100 clients, who were owed around $7 million.

The liquidators, in the last six months, recovered two vehicles purchased with Arena's money and a $1.18 million block of land that the company paid for. The land, in the Auckland suburb of Coatesville, will now be sold by the liquidators.

The liquidators have also recovered $80,000 Arena had paid as deposits for two luxury vehicles which were never purchased. NZME

Discover more

Tourism has 'capacity to grow'

22 Feb 11:16 PM

NZX drops on outlook sell-off

23 Feb 03:00 AM

Local branch refurbished and keen for bigger will uptake

23 Feb 12:27 AM

End of the road for Dick Smith

26 Feb 03:00 AM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Bay of Plenty Times

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

18 Jun 05:23 AM
Premium
Property

All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

17 Jun 11:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bunnings' $53m Tauranga store set to open

16 Jun 03:00 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

18 Jun 05:23 AM

Jetstar's first planes to Sydney and Gold Coast have taken off from Hamilton this week.

Premium
All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

17 Jun 11:00 PM
Bunnings' $53m Tauranga store set to open

Bunnings' $53m Tauranga store set to open

16 Jun 03:00 AM
Premium
Comvita forecasts another annual loss

Comvita forecasts another annual loss

15 Jun 11:39 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP