Investors of alleged Ponzi scheme chase $4m holiday home of late John Bernard Adams
Angry creditors have revealed how they will claw back money missing in an alleged Ponzi scheme, with the Great Ocean Road family compound of John Bernard Adams in their sights.
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The Great Ocean Road family compound of alleged Ponzi scheme architect John Bernard Adams will be chased by dudded investors.
The suburban lawyer has left a trail of destruction since his death last month, with up to $100 million missing from clients who invested in a fake mortgage scheme.
Now angry creditors have revealed they are looking at what money they can claw back.
Sources with knowledge of investors’ plans say they plan to make a claim on the $4 million beachfront home, which has “an incredible view”.
Property titles show that Adams’ wife Judith was listed as the sole owner of 1205 Great Ocean Road, Big Hill, just outside of Lorne. Neither Mr Adams’ wife nor family members are accused of any wrongdoing.
The property still has a mortgage with the ANZ, which was last updated in 2016, documents show.
“John lost the home in a bushfire so it was rebuilt,” a friend of Adams said.
Another source who has stayed at the property said it had been recently renovated, describing it as a “family compound”.
There are different areas for each generation of the Adams family, with a walking track from the home down to a private beach.
The 11,400 square metre property also has a tennis court and a swimming pool.
The land was last purchased in 1983, with extensive building over the years on the heavily treed property.
A real estate agent estimated it was worth up to $4 million, but others who have visited the home say it could be worth more.
“There are only nine homes on the beach side of the road in Big Hill; it’s worth a pretty penny,” a real estate source said.
Friends of Adams, who went to St Joseph’s College in North Melbourne, have been struggling to come to terms with revelations that he was a fraud.
“He was living a lie. He’s a guy that went to church every Sunday,” a friend said.
“If he was overseas on holiday he would go to church in the country he was in. When I say he went to church, I mean he was a believer.”
Friends said Adams’ wife Judith would be in shock and did not know anything about the scheme.
“Shock is an understatement,” the friend added.
“John was not a guy who drove fancy cars, he lived a modest lifestyle except for Lorne.”
Shane Maguire, Adams’ business partner at AMS Ivanhoe Lawyers, has been trying to piece together the complex financial jigsaw puzzle that has been left.
Adams was lent out money at between 7 and 9 per cent per annum, with suggestions that there would be very little money to find.
“If there was $100 million in this fund, then that’s $7 million he paid out each year,” a friend, who did not invest in the scheme, said.
“People were getting monthly cheques religiously. It’s a classic Ponzi scheme. He started off with a big pool and had to keep getting more money in to keep it running.”
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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