“We advised Mr. Morton that he should produce the information, that he should produce the documents and he declined,” Mr Van Tol said during Monday’s hearing.
Lenders accuse Mr Morton of helping Indian tech firm Think & Learn hide $US533 million from them. The missing money is at the heart of a fight between lenders owed $US1.2 billion and Think & Learn, the education-tech start-up founded by entrepreneur Byju Raveendran.
The cash belongs to a bankrupt shell company, Byju’s Alpha Inc, which is affiliated with Think & Learn and was taken over by the lenders after their loan defaulted. The $US533 million was transferred to Mr Morton’s hedge fund and then moved to an unnamed, offshore trust by Raveendran’s brother, Riju Ravindran, Byju’s Alpha lawyer Benjamin Finestone said last week.
Mr Morton is not main player in the dispute, Mr Finestone said in court.
“There is obviously somebody else behind Mr. Morton who is funding,” him, Mr Finestone said.
Byju’s Alpha and the lenders have only targeted Mr Morton and his hedge fund in order to find out where Mr Ravindran ultimately parked the cash.
Camshaft initially fought efforts to disclose details about the money because a hedge fund has a duty to protect its clients, Mr Van Tol told Judge Dorsey last week.
Last year, lenders declared a default and seized Byju’s Alpha, whose parent is Think & Learn. Since then, lenders have tried to force Think & Learn to repay the $US1.2 billion and to find the $US533 million that they say should be used to repay the debt.
Mr Ravindran is appealing a Delaware Chancery Court ruling that gave lenders control of Byju’s Alpha.
Bloomberg
