British businessman Moises Gertner owes at least £580 million to 31 creditors, including a series of Jewish charities and individuals.
Documents seen by the JC reveal that Mr Gertner, from Hendon in north-west London, owes more than £547m to Icelandic bank Kaupthing and £11m to the Israeli-owned CFL Finance Limited group.
He also owes substantial sums to Jewish charities and backers in London, Manchester, Jerusalem, New York and Gibraltar.
Mr Gertner is said to have claimed that he does not have the funds to pay off the full debt, and has proposed an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) to resolve disputes.
Under the terms of the arrangement – which is due to be heard at an official meeting with creditors on Thursday morning – Mr Gertner, who will be represented by his lawyer, would only pay 0.07 pence for every pound owed.
In the IVA proposal document, Mr Gertner is quoted as saying: “I believe that these proposals, when fully implemented, will allow for my creditors to receive a dividend of approximately 0.07p in the pound compared to nil pence in the pound in a bankruptcy”.
Kaupthing bank is said to have already agreed to the terms of the proposed IVA.
Since Kaupthing holds more than 75 per cent of the votes required to approve the IVA, other creditors will be obliged to accept the terms of the application.
Thursday’s meeting will be chaired by David Rubin of chartered accountant and insolvency practitioner group David Rubin & Partners.
Mr Rubin, who will host discussions at his central London office, said: “We know that around 95 per cent of creditors have registered their claims.
“Over 90 per cent of creditors have approved the proposals. Anything can happen tomorrow, but we just don’t know.”
He added: “Kaupthing have indicated that they will approve. It’s anybody’s guess whether they will or not. If they don’t approve it doesn’t go through.
“We need an overall total of 75 per cent, so the arrangement really hinges on Kaupthing’s decision.
The JC understands that some creditors have contacted Mr Rubin and claimed that Mr Gertner has more assets than he says he does.
“Creditors might have information we don’t have, so we always listen to all the creditors,” added Mr Rubin.
