Plantation A Legal Thriller

by J M S Macfarlane

  Chapter 110

  The word ‘co-operate’ had rung a bell. Waring’s solicitor had earlier told him there was nothing to stop Plantation being brought back to life. He’d tried to soften the blow by suggesting a way out. Westbridge would have to go along with Ashby’s reinstatement of Plantation to the register of companies, whether they liked it or not. But perhaps they could stem their losses. Waring always took out his own insurance for unforseen events when handling liquidations. In exchange for a quick exit, Ashby might forget about all of the legal costs and other expenses forced on Plantation by the liquidation. If push came to shove, he might even pay Waring’s expenses to be totally rid of him. This was subtly conveyed to Meredith.

  The next day, the list of summonses in the Companies Court stretched into the lunch hour, such was the demand for scavengers to pick the bones of dead companies. Plantation’s hearing was to be longer than the others, so a full hour had been set aside to go through the papers in open court.

  The judge, Mr Justice Fairleigh had granted the original Liquidation Order the week before. He knew his Companies Act like a preacher knew his Bible and was notorious for having a short fuse. Barristers were blasted for illogical submissions and solicitors for messy paperwork. As if that wasn’t enough, in the past week, Fairleigh had read certain newspaper reports sensationalizing the ‘inside story’ on how Plantation had crashed. His own name had been mentioned a number of times and he was far from happy about it.

  Like his brother judges, he knew that Plantation had been a substantial company. The DTI and the Inland Revenue had been represented at the last hearing ; the latter had expressed its annoyance that a large amount of tax could go unpaid.

  In the papers filed with the court, Riordan and Meredith said that Plantation was the victim of a large-scale fraud.

  Fairleigh guessed that it was a recipe for trouble. The last thing he wanted was a call from the Lord Chief Justice’s office, inviting him for afternoon tea.

  At the very least, it was an unusual situation, so unusual that he hadn’t encountered anything similar in his time on the bench. This unsettled him ; he detested his judgments being criticised and overturned in the Court of Appeal. To avoid that, he wanted to be sure that Plantation was fully capable of being resurrected. There would be an audience of politicians, bureaucrats, creditors, brokers, underwriters, clients and claimants, not to mention the journalists who would be hanging on his every word to demand a thorough investigation of the affair.

  When the court convened, the gallery was full of spectators, many of whom were advocates curious to see what would happen. When the clerk bellowed : ‘Re Plantation Ltd (In Liquidation)’, Meredith, Riordan, Wells and Ashby pushed their way through the crowd to get to the left-hand side at the front of the court while Waring and his barrister, solicitor, clerk and two management consultants, stationed themselves in front of the judge, on the right. In between them were advocates for the Inland Revenue, the Department of Trade & Industry, the London Risk Exchange and the Treasury Solicitor (representing the government). Behind the row of wigs and gowns sat a crowd of other lawyers and behind them were their clients, supporters and other riff-raff. And at the very back of the court were crowds of onlookers including Grenville and Black.

  “Yes, Mr Riordan ?” said the judge after surveying the crowded court. “What do you have to say to me ?”

  Riordan as usual was a bundle of nerves. For the next twenty minutes, he took centre stage in front of a hundred spectators. Many of them were advocates like himself ; some of them knew him while others opposed him in different cases ; all of them were rating him on his performance and whether he was confident, polished and presenting a logical argument. For this was an interesting case – companies such as Plantation aren‘t liquidated every day and then brought back to life. And those of our professional readers who may say that such a thing could never happen will know that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

  While referring to a number of affidavits, Riordan took the judge through the events in the Captain Stratos claim which had been withdrawn by Ridgeford Anthony. Their partner, Millward was at the back of the court, steeling himself for the witness box.

  “Your Lordship will see that this was an insidious fraud perpetrated by international criminals who were using all of the weaponry available to them in the English legal system to decimate one of the largest companies in the London market,” said Riordan in one breath, while pulling his gown back over his shoulders and scratching the itch under his wig. Many years ago, the headpiece had been rubbed in the ashes of the fireplace to make it appear less pristine and inexperienced. “The present whereabouts of these criminals is unknown. Their former solicitors, are here today,” at which point, various eyes turned in the direction of Millward. “Your Lordship will have seen the fax letters from the Greek police, New Scotland Yard and Interpol, proving the existence of the fraud which was exposed by Plantation’s Managing Director, Mr Robert Ashby. I would add that Mr Ashby is in court today and ready to give evidence if necessary, before your Lordship.” All eyes strained in the direction of Ashby who had arrived at Heathrow only hours earlier. “Having disposed of this reprehensible claim which originally drove the company into a technical default, Plantation Reinsurance Limited has always had adequate funds to meet all valid claims and to pay the Inland Revenue who are also represented before your Lordship this afternoon.” No-one showed the least interest in them. “The request by Plantation to be reinstated to the Companies Register is not opposed by the liquidator, Mr Waring or the Inland Revenue, the DTI, the London Risk Exchange or the Treasury Solicitor.”

  After Riordan sat down, the judge listened impatiently to each of the bewigged advocates while tapping his pen to hurry them on and then said, “All of this is highly unusual. The application may be unopposed but I do not yet understand why Plantation’s board of directors took the steps it did. Can someone explain that to me ?” And glaring at the row of wigs in front of him, he waited. “Do any of you have an answer to that or don’t you ?”

  Waring’s barrister rose hesitantly and said that Plantation’s directors felt constrained to act. They had to do something to protect the interests of the company’s creditors.

  The judge turned on him. “But why on earth did they ignore Mr Ashby’s investigations and appoint a liquidator ? It's absolutely senseless to have done this,” persisted the judge. “Surely, the directors of a company this size, were aware of what its own Managing Director was doing ? Surely they had good reason for closing the company down ?” And after waiting a few seconds, “Am I to believe that none of you know why the company was liquidated ?” roared Fairleigh. “You’re wasting my time. I’m almost minded to throw the lot of you out. You’re all an absolute disgrace to the bar.” (This was a familiar refrain in the Companies Court.)

  As Waring’s counsel said nothing, Riordan got up. “We would say, my Lord that Plantation’s board overreached itself.”

  “Then that was clearly a matter for the shareholders to have resolved before matters went out of control,” responded the judge. “Why did they not restrain the directors ?”

  “The fraud was carried out at such a pace, my Lord that it left very little time for the shareholders to respond as they would have preferred. Mr Ashby had only just arrived back from the United States after an absence of two years, following the sudden death of his father to discover that he was the principal shareholder. The fraudulent claim was listed for a full hearing before Mr Justice Hedley in the Admiralty Court, one week after Mr Ashby’s return. This series of events left him no time to deal with the board.”

  “Well.....much as I sympathize with those running the company in having to combat the fraud, I am extremely disturbed at the series of events which has transpired. This is a major company whose total equity is several hundred million pounds. It is also a member of the London Risk Exchange and trades in thirty countries around the world. The order for liquidation was unprecedented. In any othe
r circumstances, I would have had no hesitation whatsoever in refusing this application. On this occasion, I will ask the relevant authorities to examine Plantation Re’s position fully to determine that there is absolutely no question of the company trading without sufficient funds. In the absence of receiving any reports from them during the next seven days, I will make the Order requested but I emphasize that you are all skating on thin ice. If there is any further application before me, I may not be as temperate as I am today. The directors of Plantation Re will not escape so lightly the next time. Now, what is the next case ?”