Dividends Paid
129. Thirty-six dividends were declared and distributed, twenty-eight in bankruptcies, and eight in winding up.
Public Examinations and Court Work
130. Ten Public Examinations were held. Altogether legal officers of the Department appeared in Court and in Chambers on 73 occasions in connexion with bankruptcies and liquidations. In most cases little or no publicity was given in the local press to bankruptcy and liquida- tion proceedings and prosecutions.
Prosecutions
131. The debtor in whose case the Receiving Order was rescinded upon payment in full by his former partners of his liabilities as referred to in paragraph 124 above, was prosecuted for contributing to his insolvency by gambling, and convicted and bound over in the sum of $500 for three years. In another case a debtor was prosecuted for pawning property which she had obtained on credit and had not paid for, for failing to account for loss of assets, and for failing to keep proper books of account; she was convicted and sentenced to imprison- ment for a period of two months and two weeks. In a third case, a debtor was prosecuted for contributing to his insolvency by gambling, for failing to keep proper books of account, and for failing to account for loss of assets; he was convicted and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment.
Cases Concluded
132. Fifteen bankruptcy cases were concluded and the Official Receiver was released from his trusteeship by Orders of the Court.
Previous Cases still Outstanding
133. Forty-six outstanding bankruptcies, including the seven pre-war cases mentioned in paragraph 127, were carried over from previous years, but in twenty-nine of these either a final dividend had already been paid or there were no assets available for distribution, and only formal closure proceedings were required. There were twenty-four com- pulsory liquidations outstanding from previous years, twelve of which were merely awaiting formal conclusion. Some of the cases awaiting formal closure have been awaiting closure for several years. It has, however, been necessary to give priority to the more important work on current cases.
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