WEST PALM BEACH, FL (HEDGECO.NET) – Portus Alternative Asset Management may be able to recover and return investor assets of up to $678.9 million. Portus, a now defunct hedge fund that left more than 25,000 investors unable to access their funds last March, has located cash, short-term investments, and deposit notes equal to almost 86% of the money lost in the 2005 bankruptcy.

Portus co-founder Boaz Manor has not helped with the investigation but denied wrongdoing before moving to Israel when the firm was shut down. It was declared bankrupt last March and an RCMP criminal investigation is ongoing, along with charges by the Ontario Securities Commission.

Portus was blamed in a report by KPMG Inc. for “the misappropriation of investors’ funds that were used to finance the operations of the Portus Group” and the “personal use of the principals and related parties” of Portus. KPMG says investors placed $792.1 million with Portus before it collapsed. But said, “it was unable to project with certainty the amount of, or the timing of, any distributions.” A criminal investigation is still underway, and none of the charges have been proven.

Manulife Financial is the biggest creditor with $245 million in claims and 6,652 clients with Portus accounts. Manulife had promised investors accurate returns and is at the head of the line in reimbursement requests.

The trustee is not aware of claims from parties other than investors. But states, “It is uncertain about the total liabilities due to the complexity of the affairs of the Portus Group, the deliberate destruction or removal of certain of the Portus Group’s records, and the lack of co-operation of the principals of the Portus Group.”

Alex Akesson
Contributing Writer
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net

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