A former high flyer in the Tech boom days - I bought back in at an average around 30p after it was obvious they had more cash than cap - took a few profits in the fifties but held most for a cash back deal but one day found them suspended with the cash missing .... a few peeps over on the dark side had a good laugh but I like the last laugh and maybe that's not far away ....


ains





Orb poised to strike deal with Izodia over 33m
By Simon Goodley (Filed: 22/02/2003) Telegraph


Izodia and Orb Estates, the two companies at the centre of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into 33m of missing cash, are understood to be on the verge of agreeing a settlement.

The deal, which is thought to have been provisionally agreed by both parties, has been struck just as Orb was to be ordered by a Jersey court to reveal the whereabouts of the missing funds, which disappeared from Izodia's account last year. A hearing had been provisionally scheduled for yesterday.

Orb is thought to have agreed to repay the missing cash, plus costs and interest, although timescales are not clear. Sources speculated last night that the deal could lead Orb into a sale of the 37 hotels it bought from Thistle Hotels for 600m last March.

Despite the deal, the SFO's investigation - which is separate from the Jersey hearing - continues. Its officers raided Orb's premises in December after receiving "an allegation of unlawful appropriation of funds" belonging to Izodia.

Orb is the largest shareholder in Izodia, a former software company which has been reduced to a cash shell. Izodia's only two directors during the period being investigated were Jarlath Vahey and Peter Catto, both of whom have ties to Orb.

Orb denies any wrongdoing.

Izodia admitted last month that most of its remaining 33m cash pile is no longer under its control. The exact whereabouts of the funds is still unknown, although the majority of the money - thought to be around 27m - was transferred to associate companies of Orb.

Both companies declined to comment last night.

Any sale of the hotels acquired by Orb from Thistle would add to the activity in a sector which is already at the centre of consolidation and merger speculation.

Coincidentally Singapore investment group BIL International yesterday said it might make an offer for the 54pc of Thistle Hotels it does not already own.

BIL, controlled by Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, said it was considering paying a modest premium to Thistle's closing share price of 98.5p on Wednesday.

Thistle shares closed up 7.5 at 107.5p.

jesus wepped ..... this thread is about news on IZO snappy .... please F.O

Experience says you can only negotiate with peeps like orb on the steps of the courtroom a few minutes before going live.

ains




Izodia presses case against shareholder
By Carolyn Batt (Filed: 10/05/2003) Telegraph


Izodia, the former e-commerce software company chasing 33m of missing funds, yesterday said a legal case against major shareholder Orb was back on, after the investment group allegedly failed to disclose the whereabouts of the money.

Rory Macnamara, chairman of Izodia, said: "We thought we would get disclosure from Orb voluntarily, but it was not forthcoming. The halt to proceedings was only temporary, but I have no date for when we are back in court."

Mr Macnamara said that Izodia had brought actions against Orb, Lynch Talbot - an investment company that has common shareholders with Orb - and Gerald Smith, who was an adviser to Orb before becoming a director.

Mr Macnamara said that the company was also considering legal action against Royal Bank of Scotland International, with whom Izodia had an account, and "every other party that was concerned with the company during the relevant period."

Meanwhile, the Serious Fraud Office, which raided premises of both Orb and Izodia in December, has an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Izodia's cash.

Orb, which could not be contacted yesterday, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. A spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland said that the bank would "vigourously defend" any proceedings.

Izodia shareholders cheer but 33m missing
By Edward Simpkins (Filed: 25/05/2003)


Accountants and regulators have failed to trace the millions of pounds that vanished from a Jersey bank account. Edward Simpkins reports

It is the news that Izodia's long-suffering shareholders thought they would never hear. Six months after 33m vanished from the failed dotcom company from the failed dotcom company, a deal has been struck that should see their loss made good - albeit in several tranches over the next two years.

A buyer has come forward prepared to pay 650m for a portfolio of Thistle hotels owned by Izodia's biggest shareholder, Orb Estates. The buyer, Midlands-based businessman Andy Ruhan, has agreed that part of the purchase price should go to Izodia's shareholders to head off potentially damaging litigation.

The shareholders are relieved and delighted. But unanswered questions remain about how the money was removed, who was responsible and what steps the authorities, banks and professional advisers took to protect investors.

What we know for sure is that some 33m, the internet software company's main asset, vanished in August and September last year.

Shareholders expressed concern after Orb, a property company, acquired a 29 per cent stake in Izodia and new directors, several closely associated with Orb, joined Izodia's board.

In circumstances that have never been comprehensively explained, Izodia's funds were then transferred to Royal Bank of Scotland International (RBSI) in Jersey, where Orb is based and where its parent company, Lynch Talbot, held accounts. What has happened to the cash since then is unclear.

The Jersey and London offices of Orb, which has denied any wrongdoing, were raided by the Serious Fraud Office in December and large quantities of documents were removed. Five months later there has been no further action, no arrests and none of the money has been recovered. "The SFO has told us nothing, there is a total vacuum," one shareholder said this weekend.

A professional adviser to Izodia has told the Telegraph that despite concerns being raised as early as September last year he has still not been contacted by the SFO or asked to provide copies of relevant documents.

Orb is part of a huge web of companies stretching as far afield as Australia and the Middle East. Attempts to map the empire have led to dead ends and endless cross shareholdings between companies based in Jersey, Lichtenstein and the British Virgin Islands.

Last year Orb bought a 600m portfolio of hotels from Thistle and leased them back to the hotels operator. It then raised 531m through issuing debt backed by the hotels, with the interest to be paid from the rent from the hotels. That refinancing was arranged by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank.

While it was arranging the debt, Morgan Stanley did not discover that a leading figure at Orb, Gerald Smith, who had been attending meetings with the investment bank, was sentenced to two years in prison in 1993 for stealing 2m from the pension fund of a company of which he was chief executive.

Morgan Stanley points out that it had previously done business with Orb without problems and that Smith was an Orb adviser, not a director, at the time. However, it appears that late last summer the bank account at RBSI that was supposed to have been reserved for receiving rent from Thistle's hotels and paying interest to creditors was being used for other purposes.

An insider with knowledge of the deal says part of Izodia's money could have been transferred into that account. He says payments from the account may have been used to pay interest on loans to other Orb subsidiaries. A 13m shortfall in the account then came to light and the account was transferred from RBSI to HSBC on the mainland.

On Friday RBSI issued the following statement. "RBSI is aware of the ongoing SFO investigation into the Orb group and will of course co-operate fully with all relevant authorities. Given Izodia's threat of litigation against RBSI, it would be inappropriate to comment on specific allegations. RBSI has no intention of acting as guarantor of Lynch Talbot's liabilities and will vigorously defend any proceedings that may follow."

It is not known who authorised the transfer of the funds. Izodia's efforts to get Orb to hand over documents that could help trace its money have so far been fruitless. Orb was ordered to hand over documents to Izodia by a Jersey court earlier this year and is due to reappear before the court next month to answer contempt proceedings for failing to produce them.

The money vanished in such complicated circumstances that a team of forensic accountants from Ernst & Young, appointed by creditors four months ago specifically to track down the cash, has so far failed to find it.

Investors are dismayed by the apparent slowness with which the Jersey authorities have moved and by the difficulty in obtaining basic information. "There appears to be a real road block in Jersey," one shareholder said. "It is extremely difficult to get to the facts."

Richard Pratt, the director general of the Jersey Financial Services Commission and also the registrar of companies in the island, said the authorities there had been aware of the situation early on and continued to monitor the case.

"The allegations that have been made are extremely serious but there is nothing about them that is unique to Jersey," he said. "It hasn't made it any harder for people to do something about it because the company and bank involved are based here."

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the SFO said: "We've only had this case since December and with our cases being both serious and complex, that can mean a hell of a lot of evidence to be sifted through. I don't think it would be fair to say this case has taken a particularly long time."

S Telegraph

Orb sells Thistle hotels for 650m
By Edward Simpkins (Filed: 25/05/2003)


A multi-millionaire property entrepreneur is close to buying 37 Thistle hotels from Orb, the troubled property company, in a 650m deal.

Under the deal, Andy Ruhan will take on 531m in debt and also provide 123m in cash. Ruhan is best known for setting up Global Switch, the property company specialising in buildings that house telecoms equipment, which he has now sold. Ruhan may redevelop some of the hotels into luxury apartments.

Orb is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office following the disappearance of 33m from Izodia, a cash shell in which it is the biggest shareholder. Orb has denied any wrongdoing. Ruhan's deal has been structured to provide for 33m to be paid to Izodia while a number of Orb's outstanding debts will also be paid off.

The majority of the portfolio, 32 hotels, was refinanced last year in a 531m bond issue by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank. The remaining five properties are country house hotels not included in that deal.

Last year a 13m deficit was found in an account which was set up to receive rent from Thistle and pay interest to bondholders. The deficit will be made good from the sale proceeds. A 17m bridging loan made by Morgan Stanley to Orb that has been in default since December will also be paid off.

Well you have to be pleased with yourself ainsoph for
pushing this share on every bb around and giving any
investor who was foolish enough to listen to you many
many sleepless nights.

Well done !!!

Gravy

Are you on drugs gravy ....... do you have any idea what you are talking about - or do you just let your mouth do it's own thing ....




Ian

Is there any chance of stopping this peeps from posting this kind of garbage. some people might be shareholders and have an interest in reading on what is happenning. This isn't the first time today - or any day - that the gravy peeps posts gargage to try ang get attention for some ulterior purpose.

Nice Keith.....very nice !!!

So by saying the truth about you and this share you come
and reply that i am on drugs.....charming !!!!

Gravy

You two are like siemese sisters


Time Tomorrow

May 26, 2003

Izodia to press on with 33m lawsuit
By Nic Hopkins



IZODIA, the failed internet start-up, is to press on with a lawsuit against Orb, its largest shareholder, over a missing 33 million, despite being promised the cash by the entrepreneur that has agreed to buy Orbs hotel business for 650 million.
Andy Ruhan, a Midlands-based businessman, has offered to pay Izodia the 33 million within the next two years as part of a deal to take control of 37 Thistle hotels owned by Orb Estates. The deal, brokered by Morgan Stanley, is expected to be signed this week.

Mr Ruhan, who made a fortune in telecoms and property, is likely to convert some of the hotels into luxury flats. He has also promised to repay 11 million that is missing from the accounts of the hotels portfolios bondholders, as well as a 70 million bridging loan provided to Orb by Morgan Stanley.

Rory Macnamara, Izodias chairman, said that while the news was clearly a positive development, Izodia would keep its next date in court with Orb, set for mid-June.

Izodia is demanding that Orb and Lynch Talbot, a firm associated with the investment company, return the missing funds. When the funds went missing Izodia had only two directors, Peter Catto and Jarlath Vahey, both of whom had been appointed by Orb, an investment group that holds almost 30 per cent of Izodia.

Ruhan linked to Orb's Thistle portfolio

JOHN BOWKER The Scotsman


ORB Estates, the secretive Jersey-based property company, is believed to have sold off its Thistle Hotels portfolio to a little-known Birmingham-based entrepreneur.

The deal, thought to be worth about 700 million for 32 hotels, will end months of speculation over one of the embattled Orbs most prized assets. The company has been rocked in recent months by spiralling debts and an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The hotels are reportedly being bought by Andy Ruhan, who made his fortune in the property and telecoms sectors. The businessman has beaten off several better known names for the portfolio, including Newcastle tycoon Allan Rankin, who reportedly offered about 900m for 37 properties earlier this year.

Ruhan is understood to be inheriting 531m of debt, and will put up an extra 123m in cash. The deal also includes a 70m bridging loan provided by Morgan Stanley, on which Orb had defaulted.

The deal will raise the hopes of shareholders at decimated dotcom firm Izodia, who have seen 33m of their cash mysteriously disappear into an account belonging to Orb.

Ruhan is believed to be replacing the missing cash, which prompted the Serious Fraud Office inquiry as well as the threat of legal action from Izodia shareholders. The sum can be redeemed in two years time.

Orb has recently put a number of assets up for sale, including Seafield Logistics and Poole Pottery, as the firm strives to raise cash and cut debts.

The future of Thistle Hotels is unclear, although Ruhan is said to be continuing with plans to convert three of the properties into luxury flats.

In March the group rejected a 540m takeover approach from major shareholder BIL Investments. The suitor failed to secure the required 94.6 per cent of shareholder backing, after Thistle directors urged shareholders that the offer was too low.

Thistle Hotels operates 55 properties in total, most of them four star hotels. .

Ruhan is chairman of internet network provider PSINET Euroipe. He made his fortune with Global Switch, the property company specialising in buildings that house telecoms equipment.

11 September 2006 2 pages

Izodia plc: Gerald Smith sentenced
Gerald Smith was sentenced today at Cambridge Crown Court to eight years' imprisonment for misappropriating over 34 million belonging to Izodia plc and to false accounting. He has also been disqualified from acting as a company director for 15 years. He had pleaded guilty in April this year. Costs and confiscation have been put over to a date later this year to be confirmed

Izodia was a company trading in computer software, a 'dot-com' company. When the dot-com bubble burst, Izodia did little trading but became a cash shell. In 2002 Dr Gerald Smith (dob 21.05.55) through his Jersey-based property business, the Orb Group, acquired a substantial stake in Izodia and was able to exert control, which resulted in the movement of Izodia's cash asset from the Reading Branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland to Jersey from where it was stolen by Smith.

Following a complaint made by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Serious Fraud Office, together with the Thames Valley Police, commenced an investigation in December 2002 into suspected fraud surrounding the missing funds. Dr Smith was charged in February 2005. Proceedings were also commenced against two other defendants, Jarlath Vahey and Peter Catto, ex-directors of Izodia. All charges relate to events in 2002.

On 24 April 2006 the trial of Smith and Vahey opened at Blackfriars Crown Court (Catto was severed from that trial because of ill health). Dr Smith pleaded guilty to ten counts of theft contrary to section 1(1) of the Theft Act 1968 and to one count of false accounting contrary to section 17 of the Theft Act 1968. The amounts stolen represent over 34 million. Two counts of conspiracy to defraud contrary to Common Law and one count of using a false instrument contrary to section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 were not proceeded with.

Following the plea entered by Smith, the SFO decided not to continue with the prosecution of Vahey and on 24 April 2006 the charges against him (two counts of conspiracy to defraud) were left on the file. With regard to Catto, the SFO informed the court today that charges against him were also to lie on the file.

Sentencing and confiscation
The sentences of imprisonment handed down today to Gerald Smith are (a) four year on three of the theft counts to run concurrently to each other and (b)four years on each of the remaining seven theft counts and the false accounting count also to run concurrently to each other. The two sets of four-year concurrent sentences are to be consecutive, i.e. the term of imprisonment represents eight years.

The defendant was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 15 years.

The SFO has pursued restraint and confiscation of assets and today the judge set the confiscation hearing for a date in November but to be confirmed.

END