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Providence settlement approved

Providence settlement approved

Tuesday 25 June 2024

Providence settlement approved

Tuesday 25 June 2024


A Guernsey court has approved the allocation of funds proposed by the liquidators dealing with the fallout of the Providence collapse.

Providence Investment Fund went bust in 2016 and since then investors have struggled to get their money back.

This money totals around £40 million pounds between numerous Channel Island based investors, with many millions more invested by people living elsewhere. 

Many of the investors have previously been described as "vulnerable" or "elderly" with some reports alleging that they were "duped" into making high risk investments by Providence employees. 

Most recently, the matter has been dealt with by Andrew Wood and Ian Wormleighton on behalf of Teneo, which was appointed administrator of the liquidation process.

Last September, the liquidators proposed a settlement on a confidential basis, which would involve "payment of a significant sum of money, to be paid to the Joint Administration Managers on behalf of the companies".

The Joint administrators said at the time that "they had achieved all worthwhile recoveries on behalf of Providence Investment Fund (PIF) and Providence Investment Management International Limited (PIMIL), and...that the companies should be wound up and appropriate distributions of monies held by them should be made between creditors of, and investors in, the companies".

The matter became complicated with regards PIF as individual creditors have made claims against protected cells as opposed to against a company. It has since been decided that the value of the cell would be calculated as the difference in value between its assets and its liabilities.

Last week, Guernsey's Lieutenant Bailiff, Hazel Marshall KC - sitting in the Ordinary Division of the island's Royal Court - delivered her judgment on the case.

She approved the liquidators proposal and agreed that the settlement funds should be allocated as detailed in September 2023, while also approving the recommended mechanisms and distribution of the settlement funds between the Companies’ investors.

The amount of money to be distributed remains confidential.

It has previously been estimated that more than £100m was lost by investors worldwide. 

Among those found criminally culpable for the fraud is Jersey-based disgraced businessman Christopher Byrne who was jailed in 2019 after being found guilty of fraud for his part in "knowingly mis-selling the ‘high-risk’ Providence fund".

The Chief Executive of Providence, Antonio Buzaneli was jailed in Brazil after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. 

READ MORE...

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Meeting for shareholders of company linked with alleged $150million fraud 

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