Allan Hubbard Saga: No Longer Bothered by Botherway

The following is a meaculpa of sorts to Simon Botherway, a man entangled in what was perceived as a conflict of interest on his part over the Statutory Management of a couple of Allan Hubbards financial entities back in June 2010.

I wrote this back in June:

Mr Botherway and his SEC have been of course behind the statutory management of Allan Hubbard and his Aoarangi Securities, a crackdown which has apparently come out of the blue and inconsistent with the SECs track record in terms of the aforementioned bus ticket slapping.

It turns out that this is where things get really interesting in terms of Mr Botherway and his capacity as the a SEC board member. Stuff.co.nz has reported this morning that Mr Botherway has a conflict of interest of his own when it comes to his recommendation to send Mr Hubbard to Coventry:

A member of the Securities Commission (Mr Botherway) which recommended Allan and Jean Hubbard be placed in statutory management is also the brother of a businessman placed in receivership by South Canterbury Finance (SCF) last year. Stuff.co.nz

Allan Hubbard is the owner of SCF.

Mr Bothwerway only disclosed his conflict yesterday:

Commission member Simon Botherway yesterday declared he had a "potential conflict of interest" in the Hubbard case as the brother of businessman Jonathan Botherway.

Jonathan Botherway's hospitality empire collapsed in July 2009 after SCF, which was then owed $7.8 million, put him in receivership.

Simon Botherway would not comment yesterday and instead referred questions to the commission. Shareinvestor Blog, June 25, 2010

Well, it turns out stuff.co.nz and by implication myself, was wrong and wish to apologise to Simon for implicating him at all.

I am now aware of the facts over this perceived conflict and am now convinced that there is very little to it. My anonymous source assures me the following is accurate and I have no reason to doubt this source.

This is why:

* South Canturbury Finance did not put Mr Botherway's brother into receivership as is widely accepted in the majority of media reports.

NZB (NZ Breweries) appointed a receiver on Friday 26th of June 2009. Their receivers sent a fax to SCF about 11am that morning giving them until 2pm to respond, SCF had no option but to appoint their own receivers to Merivale Ale House (Auckland Bars).

A week later PWC advised SCF to place the South Island bars in receivership so they could control all the businesses.

Read the publicly available Receivers Report

* Botherway did not receive the anonymous letter of complaint (from an Aorangi investor to the Securities Commission) and has not actually seen it. Hubbard's supporters have claimed he has.

The investigation was led by the Companies Office and to the knowledge of my source* there were no Sec Com staff involved in it, and there were no Members of the Commission involved).

*Botherway didn't author any report on Aorangi or any of the other parties recommended for Statutory Management as widely reported and pushed by Hubbard supporters.

This apparent conflict has been the red hearing for Allan Hubbard supporters, and they have been using David Cunliffe, in parliament and on his own facebook page to go after Botherway. It has turned into a political muck-raking situation now for Labour in their pursuit of National over South Canterbury Finance but as we know the facts of the case in David Cunliffe's eyes are only as good as the information being supplied to him from Allan Hubbard Supporters. That information is clearly inaccurate at best and a complete fabrication at worst.

Cunliffe is of course using parliamentary privilege to divulge this stuff and he is clearly misleading the house.

* Wishing to remain anonymous but a credible source.

Related Share Investor Reading

Download Grant Thornton Report 1
Download Grant Thornton Report 2

Allan Hubbard Saga: 60 Minutes Interview, Sept 23 2010
Allan Hubbard Saga: Supporters head to the exit door
Allan Hubbard Saga: Threats & the Mysterious PWC Report
Allan Hubbard Supporters: Conflict of Interest
VW Veneer reveals BMW heart
VIDEO: Jenni McManus Explains Allan Hubbard Collapse
Allan Hubbard Statement on SCF Receivership
VIDEO: Sandy Maier - full news conference on SCF Receivership
Market Alert: South Canterbury Finance to be placed in Receivership
Allan Hubbard: Ignorant Supporters Blissfully Unaware
Thornton Report 2: Allan Hubbard Guilty as Charged
Allan Hubbard: Full TV3 Interview - July 16 2010
Thornton Report: Allan Hubbard's Aorangi Securities
Whatever happened to? Muriel Dunn
Bothered by Simon Botherway
Allied Farmers: Prosecutions should be on the cards
Allied Farmers Fraud passes with little fanfare
Allied Farmers: What's it Worth?
Hanover, Allied Farmers deal more of the same
Jane Diplock Q & A Interview
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Hanover collapse: It was just a matter of time
Money Managers Saga: 3 Story wrap
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