Wednesday, July 6, 2011

7. Light at end of legal tunnel

Reading through all of the press generated by one newspaper, it has been easy to lose perspective as to what is really at the heart of this story.
With all of the claims made by this one particular reporter and her largely unnamed, uncorroborated sources, we have had two different pieces of advice. Say nothing – too many issues are still open before the courts and authorities in different jurisdictions; or launch a law suit and sue for defamation. So what is the best course of action to take for the Voyageur members? 
The real question is - What is at the heart of this matter?
An investors club was founded in 2000 to help people keep track of their money. We followed it as it went into international investments - we followed it as it came back. In some cases between 2000 and 2010, following the money trail for our members turned into forcibly recovering it - acting in the strength of a club and doing what no individual investor could do when it comes to applying legal pressure internationally.
In this case, we're still chasing the money.
Voyageur members lent money to our two companies, for the express purpose of financing Merendon.
We made sure the loans were documented, and registered. We also tried to make sure there was meaningful, enforceable security.
When Eiger Capital Corp. defaulted, RHD and Balmain sought to collect on the security pledged against their loan, namely the Merendon shares.
There was one small but serious wrinkle: Eiger Capital Corp. denied there was a default.
RHD and Balmain were forced to go to court in the jurisdiction where Eiger is registered. As a result, we're now concluding our 4th trip to Belize in 10 months, and things are finally looking somewhat optimistic. We have one important win behind us, and a few more procedural questions underway.
Legal procedures in any country can seem like a long, dark tunnel. We're finally getting to the end of that tunnel now. In what should have been headline news (in my humble opinion), our two companies were awarded a judgment against Eiger for over $70 million as of May 31st 2011. The amount keeps climbing, because we are owed interest until the debt is paid.
Belize doesn't have an online system for posting judgments, as far as I know, so if you want to see a copy of the judgment, you will have to contact me personally. Our members have already received a scanned copy. Of course, one legal victory is not the end of the matter - recovering the money is what it's all about!
So while we have proved that Eiger owes Voyageur members the money (which should put to rest the insinuations that "the Jarman family" has done other things with the money, like start a school for 65 students) now we have to collect enough Eiger assets to repay members what they are owed.
That story still goes on, and our job as far as Voyageur members are concerned, is to keep reporting "just the facts" on our private web site. That's what an investors club is all about, and that's all we are going to do until we've followed the money to the end.

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