Former Carlton president Ian Collins kicks off court action over Ivanhoe Ponzi scheme

Former Carlton president Ian Collins has kicked off court action over an alleged $100m Ponzi scheme headed by his late friend, saying he was “in the proverbial at the moment.”

Ian Collins with Charlie Curnow at a Carlton training session. Picture: Michael Klein

Carlton great Ian Collins has labelled a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme “a disgrace” as he filed court action demanding fraudulent mortgages cooked up by his late friend John Adams be removed from properties.

The ex-Blues president is the lead plaintiff in a Supreme Court action against AMS Ivanhoe Lawyers and its investors over fake mortgages put on his and others’ homes as part of a scheme run by lawyer Mr Adams that lost funds of up to $100m, as first revealed by the Herald Sun.

The Order of Australia medallist told the Herald Sun it would be a “lengthy and slow process”.

“There’s not much to report at this stage,” he said.

“We’re in the proverbial at the moment.”

He said the Supreme Court action, filed on Friday, was seeking to “get our titles back”.

“It’s a disgrace, really,” he said.

“It’s a frustrating process.”

Mr Collins leads nine plaintiffs who want mortgages on their properties removed because they were fraudulently obtained.

Collins in 2002 in his days as Carlton president.

Collins called the scandal a disgrace. Picture: Ian Currie

The multimillion-dollar property portfolios include two homes belonging to Mr Collins — in Carlton and Keilor East — along with six other houses owned by eight other people, including married couples, a father and son, and individual owners.

The mortgage on Mr Collins’ Carlton property was registered just four days before Mr Adams’ October death.

Documents show the plaintiffs had deposited the titles of their properties — one owned for as long as three decades and another for less than a year — for “safekeeping” with the law firm and their trusted lawyer Mr Adams.

The claim “fictitious” loans “were electronically signed by Mr Adams or (his colleague) Mr Maguire for AMS Ivanhoe, purportedly on behalf of mortgagees, using the PEXA electronic conveyancing system” and are calling for discharge of the mortgages for fraud.

Shane Maguire was Mr Adams’ colleague and business partner at AMS Ivanhoe Lawyers.

The claim directly accuses Mr Adams, who died last month, of fraud and says Mr Maguire was reckless in approving the mortgages because documents showing they were legitimate did not exist.

Mr Adams’ estate and Mr Maguire are the key targets of the lawsuit, which also names eight investors in the scheme, including The Brunswick Club, which was allegedly falsely held out as lenders by Mr Adams.

John Bernard Adams died in October.

Shane Maguire was the business partner of John Adams.

The plaintiffs allege that while the titles to their properties were in the hands of AMS Ivanhoe, Mr Adams was running a money lending business where he would “solicit clients” and others to deposit money that he would then lend out.

They allege that “Mr Adams would induce investors to deposit those monies by offering rates of interest above those that could generally be sourced from traditional investments” and traded off his status as a lawyer “to convey the impression to the investors that the investment scheme was lawful, and posed a low risk”.

However, “from a point in time that is presently unknown to the plaintiffs, the Lending Business was operated in a manner that was dishonest and fraudulent” and Mr Adams “misappropriated a significant portion of the investors’ funds to his own use”, documents claim.

According to the writ, “several” of the people now taking court action asked Mr Maguire for a please explain, but he then pointed the finger at his late business partner.

The plaintiffs claim Mr Maguire “in several instances conceded that the dealings were fraudulent transactions perpetrated by Mr Adams”.

The AMS offices in Ivanhoe. Picture: David Crosling

Despite that, Mr Maguire hasn’t been let off the hook by the claim, with the plaintiffs stating that his reliance in his late colleague was “misplaced and illegitimate”.

“Accordingly, it must be inferred that Mr Maguire made the certifications without any genuine belief that they were true, and in reckless disregard for their truth,” the plaintiffs allege.

Mr Maguire, in a statement issued via his law firm, said he “did not register the mortgages on Mr Collins’ properties”.

“After Mr Adams’ death, I discovered that he arranged the registration of mortgages using my PEXA key without my agreement,” he said.

“My name appears on the mortgages solely on that basis.”

Mr Maguire said he hadn’t been issued with the writ lodged by Mr Collins and others that names him as a defendant and “will not be commenting on any writ served”.

He acknowledged a probe by the Victorian Legal Services Board and said he “cannot comment further on the status of the investigation or the position of Victoria Police”.

Mr Maguire vehemently denied claims that anyone from within the firm had made calls warning clients of problems that would emerge following Mr Adams’s death.

The 82-year-old died at his family’s lavish Lorne home on October 21.