Former Cash Plus boss Carlos Hill promised to repay investors after being freed of fraud charges in May. File photo
The more than 40,000 investors in collapsed ponzi scheme Cash Plus will have a lengthy wait before they receive a possible payout, the Office of the Government Trustee disclosed in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The Trustee said the value of claims made by 21,000 persons is in excess of the $19 billion that was set aside to pay depositors. Thirty-five thousand claims were received.
The Office indicated that any future payout will be small.
It said, at the date of commencement of the receivership, Cash Plus had liabilities of J$23 billion, of which J$19 billion was due to depositors. But to date, the Trustee said only J$827.5 million and US$1.16 million have been recovered.
The funds came mainly from the sale of properties, rental of real estate and payments owed to the Cash Plus Group from transactions prior to the receivership and liquidation.
According to the Trustee, the total value of the asset portfolio of the Cash Plus Group, to date, is insufficient to make a dividend payment of any significant proportion towards the claims received.
Challenges
Meanwhile, the Office of the Government Trustee said it will face challenges in completing the process.
The Office said it will have to continue investigations to identify and recover Cash Plus assets as well as individually review and verify claims.
It added that it will not be able to quickly dispose of assets given the need to resolve legal and other issues.
There is also a need to determine the amount of funds in hand that can actually be applied to the payment of dividends, as well as the priority of distribution.
Additionally, taxes, contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the National Housing Trust (NHT), wages, salaries, and redundancy payments due to former Cash Plus employees must be paid prior to distribution to depositors.
The Office said, once these steps have been completed, a dividend payment of a nominal proportion may be possible in the future.
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