Control over foundations questioned

Alex van Heeren.

Huka Lodge owner Alex van Heeren will get the chance to explain the extent to which he has any control over two entities in the land-locked microstate of Liechtenstein where he transferred all of his assets.

This follows van Heeren's former business partner arguing that the Dutch businessman should have his financial affairs probed before a judge at the High Court in Auckland.

The bid by South African steel trader Michael Kidd was another turn in his 19-year-long fight with van Heeren over the breakup of their business partnership.

Kidd claimed he got less than US$5 million ($7.5 million) when they severed ties in 1991, while van Heeren allegedly held on to assets worth at least US$47.5 million - including Huka Lodge, Dolphin Island retreat in Fiji and 32kg of gold.

Earlier this year, Justice John Fogarty ordered van Heeren to pay US$25 million to the High Court in Kidd's favour as part of the dispute.

As well as this "interim payment", the judge ordered van Heeren to provide a complete list of all of the partnership's assets and their value.

Van Heeren is appealing against that decision claiming in a series of affidavits that his assets were transferred into two foundations in Liechtenstein and were out of his control.

Justice Fogarty, in August, said van Heeren had not fully informed the court about the current whereabouts of partnership assets nor their value.

However, the judge did not find that van Heeren was refusing to comply with the court and allowed for the possibility that the Huka Lodge owner may have read the term 'control' to mean only assets in his direct, rather than indirect, or remote control.

Both sides' lawyers were back before Justice Fogarty yesterday where Kidd applied for van Heeren to be forced to come to court and be examined over his finances.

But the judge instead proposed van Heeren file another affidavit answering questions about control of the Liechtenstein foundations.

The judge said if they had to go down a path involving the "truly coercive powers of the court", they would.

"At this stage, I wanted to keep trying to avoid that."