The receiver for accused Ponzi scheme operator David Ross sold about $199,000 of family paintings and is looking at the family-owned properties as he tries to unravel the affairs of Ross Asset Management.
PwC's John Fisk and Duncan Bridgman have been appointed to preserve the assets of the Ross family and related trusts as part of the wider investigation into Ross Asset Management, and are trying to work out whether investor money from the fund manager was used to pay for any of the family's properties, according to their latest report. Ross Asset Management has a claim of almost $3.5 million against David Ross and the trusts.
Ross appeared briefly in the Wellington District Court this morning, where hearings on eight charges under the Crimes and Financial Advisers Act were adjourned for hearings on Aug 22.
The receivers' report says the money raised from the auctioned paintings, which were jointly owned by David and Jillian Ross, are being held in a trust account, and is expected to be used to meet their legal costs by the Financial Markets Authority's investigation.
The Ross receivers are investigating whether any Ross Asset Management funds were used to buy a Lower Hutt property and a bare section in Riversdale Beach, and are still trying to work out what to do with the Ross family home, which was bought before the fund manager was set up.
