Ponzi man ordered to hand over properties

David Hobbs photographed in 2010. File photo

A Nelson man described as the "mastermind" behind an A$30 million "Ponzi" scheme has been ordered to give up possession of two properties.

David John Hobbs was found in 2012 by the New South Wales Supreme Court to have breached Australian laws over the operation of 14 schemes that received over AUD $50 million of investment.

Hobbs, according to a New Zealand High Court judge, has been described as the "mastermind" behind these schemes - including a A$30 million Ponzi scheme.

Hobbs was penalised a record A$500,000 across the Tasman and is permanently banned from managing companies or providing financial services in Australia, Justice David Collins said last month.

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The liquidator of a number of Hobbs' schemes, Barry Taylor, tracked the transfer of funds that he said belonged to investors and were used to purchase two Nelson properties.

Hobbs also made claims on the transfer funds and said one portion had been paid to him for assisting a Taiwanese company called Global Funeral Services Co Ltd.

Proceedings began in 2010 to determine who was entitled to the properties and a separate investment sum and settlement conferences were held to try and resolve the matter.

According to Justice Collins' decision, the parties agreed in March 2013 that Hobbs would pay Taylor $1.175 million and that one of the Nelson properties would be sold with funds from it and the investment sum being used to pay lawyers' fees to settle Taylor's and others' claims.

The effect of the settlement was that the second Nelson property would not need to be sold if Hobbs could find $300,000 to pay Taylor after he had received the proceeds of the first property and the investment sum.

But Hobbs did not comply with the settlement because he said, amongst other things, that the agreement in March 2013 was reached by his lawyer without his authority.

Hobbs last month in the Nelson High Court applied to set aside the orders which followed from the settlement.

However, Justice Collins refused to do so and allowed Taylor to have possession of both the Nelson properties and to sell them.

See the High Court decision here:

Hobbs (PDF)
Hobbs (Text)