Contributed by Ohgino
I know for a fact that there are people on here who know the rest of this statement.
Home Funding Corporation Limited
Statement by Gerry Hannon
In July 2006, my wife’s sister, a clerical officer in the law firm of Maurice G Lyons & Co Solicitors introduced me to the Principal Maurice G Lyons, who was actively seeking to recruit a business manager with financial credentials to manage a small company dealing in Asset Financing and or Sub Prime Mortgaging.
I was informed by Mr Lyons he acted for a Client, one Ian Andrew Leaf, who was the de facto ultimate beneficial owner of Home Funding Corporation Limited, and who was presently detained in Brixton Prison at the pleasure of Her Majesty on conviction for VAT fraud charges.
Until March of 2006, the Company was managed by one Jarrod Leaf, son of Ian Andrew Leaf, who was in a subordinate management position to Ian Andrew Leaf. There was one accounting technician employed also by the Company, one Olga Flynn, who had departed the company in early 2006 to pursue alternative professional goals. Mr Jarrod Leaf departed abruptly in April 2006 with a very substantial severance package in excess of €250K which appeared to be inordinately excessive in relation to prior earnings. In contrast, Ms Flynn departed the Company without any special compensation, notwithstanding her apparent complete understanding and detailed integration in the running of the Company.
When I took up employment with the Company, it was essentially mothballed, lying in 42 dusty crates in a top floor room in the business premises of Maurice G Lyons & CO, 46 Parnell Square Dublin 2. The business had been inactive for several months at this stage.
My function was to restore function and drive income stream through monthly account payments and settlements, largely negotiated on the back of the implementation of legal strategies and proceedings for debt recovery. My immediate line management reporting was back to Maurice G Lyons, who was retained by the Company as the Business Solicitor, and who I was given to understand was guided directly by Ian Andrew Leaf, or his personal representatives. In this context I was contacted by one Paul Maurice, Partner, FSPG Chartered Accountants, 21 Bedford Square London WC 1B 3HH who intimated clearly to me that he represented the interests of said Ian Andrew Leaf. He was anxious to secure and maintain the healthy level of recoveries that were flowing through the Company’s accounts and to identify potential profitable avenues of re-investment, as Bank interest rates were not commensurate with the Company’s lending profile of in excess of 25% PA.
In time Mr Maurice intimated to me that he had received authorisation from Ian Leaf to undertake auditing duties for the company. Accounts were prepared and submitted, lesser officials from FSPG visited the Company’s premises and conducted the necessary auditing activities. Relevant Fees were discharged to them. In further conversations with Mr Paul Maurice, he intimated to me that his firm had also been retained by Ian Andrew Leaf to assist in negotiations with the Crown Prosecution Service for his early release on Licence from his Prison Sentence. I was requested to accelerate by all means any outstanding account recoveries to enhance the cash pot with which Mr Leaf was attempting to buy his early release.
As with all matters relating to Ian Leaf, his connections to his business interests were very carefully screened and constructed to obfuscate his vested interests. He directly is not a visible shareholder, or Director of Home Funding Corporation Limited, yet all the tangible high level accumulation and distribution of assets were orchestrated by him personally or through his representatives.
The Directors, Two French nationals Dominique Martiny and Christine Anger showed absolutely no interest in the Company’s activities, and their sole function was to act as account signatories with the Bank of Ireland so that outgoing payments could be effected. The recorded beneficial Ownership vests in Opus Mundi Trust incorporated in the Bahamas and domiciled in Seeger-Haas Kirchstrasse 6 FL-9494 SCHAAN Liechtenstein. This trust features prominently in Mr. Leafs affairs.
The Opus Mundi Trust is apparently the ultimate holding company for Mr. Leafs financial affairs, Although Mr. Leaf attempted to stonewall attempts to link him personally to this company and its subsidiaries and group associations, His Trial Judge in the UK observed that it was impossible to accept any of his statements as truth, given his propensity to utter lies.
Opus Mundi Trust, Incorporated In the Bahamas, with a registered address in Liechtenstein, is the beneficial owner of Opus Mundi Holdings Ltd.,
Which owns Chartline Investments Limited Banque Cai (Suisse) S.A. Executive Jet S.A. Pre Debenture Loan to HFC value 2002 €8.2 M. Herodote S.A.R.L, Debenture Holder for in excess of €7.5 M, (as at 2004) assigned to United Bank Limited and United Bank Limited, Sutherlands Building, Murray Road, P.O. Box 1341, Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Home Funding Corporation Limited A known subsidiary of Chartline Investments Limited. Herodote S.A.R.L. holds a Debenture Mortgage over the assets of Home Funding Corporation Limited, and has assigned its interest to United Bank Limited.
It is my understanding the Company commenced trading in 1997, with the Loan brokerage performed by one Ron Weisz, through a mortgage company he set up by the name of Wise Mortgage Company Limited. Loans were underwritten by Wise Mortgage Company Limited, funded contemporaneously by Home Funding Corporation Limited on completion of a back to back assignment of interest in the Mortgage Deed.
The administration of the Company’s interests was undertaken by Home Funding Corporation Services Limited, set up by the Company’s Solicitors, Maurice G Lyons & Co. By all accounts, Intermediate management on behalf of Ian Andrew Leaf was undertaken by J.S Jacobs & Co, Chartered Accountants, Roman House, 13 High Street, Elstree, Herts, WD6 3EP. Further Senior intermediate management functions were performed by Dr. Lambert Grassern, of Larona Trust Reg., trading out of Bannholz Str 16, PO Box 381, FL 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
In 2003 Ian Leaf instructed his son Jarrod Leaf to take over management of the business in Dublin and this he appears to have undertaken comprehensively. There are many references to his subordinate role to Ian Leaf in the Company files, and lending activities continued with an expanded network of independent network of licensed brokers, that included, amongst others, one Mr. Ted Cunningham. There was no material alteration to the debenture funding process during this period, with Interest charges being levied on Home Funding Corporation Limited, in accordance with the terms of the Debenture. Capital Payments similarly were routed back to Debenture Holder. I would suspect that funding supplied to Home Funding Corporation Limited through Executive Jet S.A. was the proceeds of Ian Leafs fraudulent activities in the U.K., and the repayment of the Debenture Interest and Charges through United Bank limited was the cleansed funds being re circulated back to Mr. Leafs Coffers
In 2005, both Jarrod Leaf and Ms. Olga Flynn, the Company’s Bookkeeper departed the Company for other activities. At this time, Ian Leaf was still incarcerated but mounting an application for release on license. I was contacted, as stated previously by Mr. Paul Maurice on behalf of Ian Leaf for financial detail on cash availability for repayment to the UK Inland Revenue Services. As part of this process, in 2007, it was agreed by Ian Leaf, who has previously denied all vested interest in any of the involved business entities, to transfer ownership of Home Funding Corporation Limited to Mr. David Ingram, Insolvency Partner in Grant Thornton, Chartered Accountants, 30 Finsbury Square, London EC2P 2YU In 2008, immediately prior to this transfer of ownership Transfers of €800K and €900K were effected in favor of Herodote S.a.r.l. in February and April respectively. Further sums of €75K and €400K were paid to Larona Trust, in July & September
David Ingram and his team prepared and circulated a prospectus for sale of the company and or its assets, i.e. its loan book. Several prospective purchasers undertook due diligence inspections, but all declined, due to the very poor performance profile of the majority of the borrowers, and because the recession was up and running at that time (Included Start Mortgages). It further emerged and was made known to me by David Ingram that Mr Ian Leaf and a Richard Ashkin were interested in acquiring the company and its assets for a figure in the area of €850K (I was not privy to the negotiations). Seemingly there are precedents in the UK for similar sales. In this instance Mr Ashkin was the alleged Funder of the purchase, but in the course of his due diligence visit he observed to me that most of the assets were non-viable, a not unreasonable observation. So it appeared to me then that his inclusion in the purchase team was perfunctory and designed to mask the fact that Ian Leaf was in fact acquiring the company, which raised certain questions as to ability to fund the purchase, given that he had emptied the bank accounts back to Inland Revenue to secure his release.
On acquiring the company Mr Leaf has by all accounts set about re-invigorating his previous cash Cow.
He has instituted a personal name change by deed poll to Ian Andrews (from Ian Andrew Leaf) and has effected a company name change to Vivier Mortgages. He has redesigned his customer account statement formats and several of the borrowers have intimated to me that there have been very substantial and unexplained balance increases evident on their new statements. A Kevin McCloud has travelled from New Zealand to manage the business, which is portrayed as being under new ownership of the Vivier Group, New Zealand. Vivier Group lists amongst its Directors, (Lord Sic) Michael Brown, a fellow UK national convicted of fraud and detained in Brixton at the time of Leafs detention. Interestingly, Vivier Group share office facilities on the same floor in the same building in New Zealand with a Company listed as Opus Magnum.
A gentleman, of most colourful background, named Luigi Wewege has been retained to manage the company affairs also, and he too has hailed from NZ where he portrays himself in shining philanthropic terms but where his peers consider him “toxic”, particularly in political circles. Born in South Africa, educated in the USA, he has previously held high aspirations for political office in NZ. But scandal with a political opponent’s mistress has derailed such ambition. A good time to exit NZ for the other side of the planet. He remains active in the company’s affairs involving debt recovery
Vivier Mortgages is stated to have been sold on to Eire Mortgages Limited and is flouted as independent of previous ownerships, Kevin McCloud is a Director of this Company.
The chopping and changing of company name and company ownership are for me synonymous with the known previous activities of Ian Andrew Leaf and his Mensa size brain and attitude. His determination to recapture his company generates queries in my mind as to what he has in mind. For me, there can be little doubt that he channelled his UK fraud funds through Home Funding Corporation, and targeted and preyed on vulnerable borrowers to conceal his activities, and the current aggressive pursuit of these borrowers, whilst raising horrific and punitive interest charges, illustrates clearly his continued fraudulent conversion of those funds.