CO129-535-5 N.I. Brewer- transcript of trial and evidence 1-1-1929 - 31-12-1931 — Page 221

You bought the premises over from Yau Farin for $240,000 ? Yes.

Sometime subsequent to that you received an offer to purchase the premises?

Yes.

It

Yau Farin.

He came with

From whom? It came through the same man came to me. I know the offer to be genuine.

$10,000.00 cash and asked me to put it in my pocket, and sell the building for $240,000.00 so it was a genuine offer.

It is not peculiar, I understand, Rather a peculiar offer ? in Chinese business, But it was one to which I at once said "You are prepared to pay $250,000.00 I will put the offer to the directors".

It was a firm that wanted

On whose behalf was the offer ? to start a banking business and thought our premises would be very suitable for the purpose.

Do you know what the firm was ? were made for them to amalgamate.

I don't, but I know offers

It would be about March about When was this offer made ? a fortnight before writing up the books.

It was considered but it was

The offer was not accepted ? refused they thought they could get more.

WA

Judge:- Did you not want the premises to carry on your

- Myself I and the directors own banking business? Myself

were all agreeable that smaller premises were more suitable for our purpose they lost a good opportunity by being too greedy.

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Jan. 12th. It appears in your Journal NIB 15

- page 16 That shows the transaction - head office- A-1 Ledger. NIB 11 page 41 That is the writing up of the premises.

We wrote the premises at Vaults were kept separate ? $240,000.00

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Premises

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by $35,000.00

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So you have written up although the premises were never disposed of at that figure, and on the strength of that you carried $35,000 as a profit to your Profit and Loss Account ? prepared to justify that action.

Yes, and I am

Although the profit of $35,000.00, like the profit of $10,000 in connection with the deal with the Instone Trading

The two profits was never in effect realized by the Company ? are not parallel, but it is correct to say that there

there was no cash received, but was a profit on this

that is a profit. I will we had an appreciated building justify it if given opportunity,

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The point in respect of this $35,000.00

the appreciation

in value and also the $10,000.00 - the point of

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similarity I want to put to you is that no profit was in effect actually realised in respect of these two transactions? One is a debt that afterwards proved bad, and one is the appreciation of premises, at which price they cannot be sold now.

This profit was not in fact realised

?

To my mind, yes.

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