SFO reopens Weavering Capital investigation
Following Duff & Phelps liquidators’ High Court victory against Weavering Capital, the SFO decides to reopen an investigation into the fund
THE SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE has reopened an investigation into collapsed Weavering Capital following a successful civil case won by the liquidators.
Duff & Phelps liquidators, who were appointed to the UK’s largest hedge-fund fraud, managed to win back $450m (£290.3m) following a civil challenge earlier this year.
Following that win, the SFO’s newly appointed director David Green has decided to reopen the investigation, the Financial Times reports.
In September last year, the SFO dropped a probe into Weavering as it believed there was no reasonable chance of a conviction. However, following the May civil case win, which saw the fund’s founder liable for deceit and breach of fiduciary duties, it has reversed that decision.
Geoffrey Bouchier and Paul Clark (pictured) of Duff & Phelps were appointed joint administrators to Weavering Capital (UK) Limited in March 2009. The administrators were then appointed liquidators in March 2010.
Weavering Capital was a London-based hedge fund management company. It was investment manager of Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund Limited, a Cayman Islands hedge fund that collapsed in March 2009. The demise left investors, such as charities and pension funds, with losses of more than $530m.
“The decision by the SFO to reopen the investigation is welcomed by Weavering’s investors. They and the professional advisors involved in the case will provide every assistance to the SFO,” Barnaby Stueck, a lawyer at Jones Day who advises Duff & Phelps, told the publication.
Green is said to have been undertaking a review of all case files at the SFO since taking up his role in April.