Portus founder ordered to remain in Israel

An Israeli judge has granted a request by receiver KPMG, prohibiting Portus founder Boaz Manor from leaving the country, pending a hearing scheduled for November 6.

The Tel Aviv court also agreed to temporarily freeze Manor’s assets, valued at $20.7 million US and has appointed an Israeli receiver for his precious metals and gems.

“Manor has misappropriated substantial amounts of investor funds, has refused to deliver Portus property to the receiver and has interfered almost continuously with the receiver’s administration of the receivership,” KPMG said in documents released yesterday.

The court order was sealed until Tuesday, with KPMG expressing concern that Manor “would flee the jurisdiction of the Israeli court if he became aware of the proceedings.”

Manor left Canada for Israel shortly after Portus was placed into receivership in March.

Earlier this month, the Ontario Securities Commission began proceedings against the hedge fund firm, accusing the company of engaging in the illegal distribution of securities.

Manor, described as the “chief architect and guiding mind” of all the Portus operations also faces charges under Ontario’s Securities Act.

He is accused of destroying material documents, submitting misleading information to the commission, directing the trading of non-prospectus qualified mutual funds without proper registration and directing the distribution of units in the funds without having filed a preliminary prospectus.

In total, approximately 26,000 Canadian investors, the majority of whom reside in Ontario, invested approximately $730 million in the domestic structures offered by Portus and $52 million US in the offshore structure. Another $20 million was invested in Portus’s first product, the Market Neutral Preservation Fund.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com