The Ranfurly Home for War veterans .. what does the furture hold?

Last week I went to the movies I saw “now you see me”    excellent movie, it is about magicians and magic.  The by line in the movie was “Look closely, because the closer you think you are, the less you will actually see”.

As a fraud Investigator  I have found  this  to be true for fraud as well , I have narrowed it down to “  you will find fraud where the assumption is” I usually find  that  this is  somewhere between  the roles of  lawyers and accountants.

Last week I watched Campbell Live   “When your employer proposes a pay cut”  by Rebecca Wright  it go me looking at the  Ranfurly Home. My question being  how can a home  historically intent for war veterans  end up becoming  flash residential  ‘own your own homes“ retirement village for the   general public?   

The logical place to start is with the History

Ranfurly was founded under a deed of trust in 1903. The then Governor of the Colony of New Zealand the Earl of Ranfurly sponsored a National Patriotic Appeal to establish a National Memorial in Honour of the servicemen who laid down their lives in the South African War.

A Board of Trustees administered the home until 1915 when it was transferred to the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Association. This situation continued until 1941 when a new constitution and rules were set up under the approval of the Minister of Internal Affairs. At the same time the name of the administering body was changed to the Auckland Veterans Home Board. In 1950 the capital interest in the property was transferred to the New Zealand Patriotic and Canteen Funds Board of Wellington.

A name change took place in 1954 to Ranfurly War Veterans Home in  memory of the Earl of Ranfurly and his foresight in founding the home.

Considerable expansion of services took place over the next 30years with the homes capacity being increased to its present situation of 82 bed Rest Home, 35 bed Hospital and a 24 bed Stage 3 Dementia Unit. The home now provides the highest quality of service for 141 veterans. Since March1995 Ranfurly has held accreditation by the New Zealand Council on Healthcare Standards. Source ranfurly.org.nz archives.

The New Zealand Patriotic and Canteen Funds Board was a body established under the Patriotic and Canteen Funds Act 1947. The function of the Board is to expend its monies to best advantage on the relief, assistance, and support of discharged servicemen of certain wars who may be in need, and their dependants, and the dependants of deceased servicemen, or any purpose approved by the Minister. See source

Until 2002, the Board’s main activity was the administration of 4 war veterans’ homes. In that year, the Board decided that each home stood a better chance of financial survival if its governance was localised and community support and responsibility encouraged. To this end, the Board agreed to devolve the administration of the homes to 4 separate trusts.

By the end of November 2002, the transfer of assets and liabilities to each of 3 trusts was completed, and 3 of the homes were operating under new administration. The trust arrangement for the Levin Home for War Veterans did not proceed and it was sold to Presbyterian Support Central, a charitable trust set up under the Charitable Trust Act 1957. The Board retained residual funds only to cover remaining administrative expenses. Source

These boards were repealed by legislation  in 2005  by which time  three of the four homes administered by the fund were transferred into  ownerships of trusts set up to  take over the  care  and administration of the properties.

• Ranfurly Home in Auckland, administered by the Ranfurly Trust;
• Rannerdale Home in Christchurch, administered by the Rannerdale Trust; and
• Montecillo Home in Dunedin, administered by the Montecillo Trust.

The Ranfurly trust was set up in 1999 by trust deed    

The deed is of particular importance and it can be seen that the trust was set to include the following intention of the settlor.

“The Settlor considers it desirable that a Trust be established to achieve the continued existence of Ranfurly War Veterans Home and Hospital, the continual provision of existing services, and the enhancement of these services, and the ancillary objects hereinafter set out in detail.”

The Objects referred to are listed as :

 The Trustees shall stand possessed of the Trust Fund UPON TRUST to pay or apply so much of the capital and the income thereof as the Trustees think fit for or towards any one or more of the following exclusively charitable objects and purposes which are hereby declared to be the objects and purposes of the Trust, namely:

3.1.1 The benefit of discharged servicemen and servicewomen (as defined in the Patriotic and Canteen Funds Act 194 7) presently resident or at any time in the past resident in Ranfurly, and their dependants;

3 .1.2 the benefit of other persons in the community lawfully and properly admitted to Ranfurly;

3.1.3 The work of any public charity or any organisation dispensing charity or relieving or caring for discharged servicemen and servicewomen or persons eligible for entry to Ranfurly;

3.1.4 The promotion or support of and participation in medical research of benefit to those eligible for entry to Ranfurly as may be approved by the Trustees;

3.1.5 the furtherance by any means and in any manner as may be approved by the Trustees, of works for charitable purposes, which in accordance with the law in New Zealand for the time being, are charitable whether such purposes relate to the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or any other matter beneficial to discharged servicemen and servicewomen their dependants and those persons eligible for entry to Ranfurly.

 The property was transferred into the trusts control in 2002 Land title , this means that the property became part of the trust fund .

In 2007 the trust set up a company to employ the staff in the care facility  this was called Ranfurly Veteran Care Limited.

Both the trust and Ranfurly Veteran Care Limited became charities in 2008. Their charity records can be seen on the charities web site Ranfurly Veteran Care Limited  and The Ranfurly Trust.

I instinctively feel that there is something very wrong   in what has happened at the Ranfurly home. I have no more interest in this than any concerned member of the public should have. It appears to me that this land which is now very valuable is being exploited  by  developers  who do not  care about the residents or the terms of the trust deed.

I know that houses in Epsom on   lease hold land owned by the Cornwall park trust board are paying  huge sums  for proportionately smaller  sections  1297sq m  pay  $70,000 .  see Brian Rudman: Founder’s great gift may need rethink   In this case the   entire site  has been leased for  $203,125  for 2.7892 hectares being 27892 sq meters  and 21 times   the size of the Cornwall park property.

If the developers were leasing the land from Cornwall park trust board  they would  be paying $4,368,205   per year   now I am not saying that  Cornwall parks rates are   fair   , what I am saying is that there is a massive difference between lease hold   rates on land which is  some 5 kilometres apart.

It may be an idea for the  residents  and   potential future  users of the facility  to test this matter in  court   as  it appears to me that the trust has lost all control over the assets and   by “ selling the business”  to developers   the trust board appears to me to have  walked away from their responsibility as trustees.

A judicial review of their action   may protect veterans of the future. Who says there are not going to be any more wars ?

If you have any more information which will assist with this chronology please provide it to me and I will include it.

Chronology

I am calling for an independent commission agaisnt corruption  we need a body which  can  monitor and look into public issues  such as  this.

We have to ask ourselves is it OK to effectively give away a veterans facility for 100  years to companies that do not have a constitution which priorities care of veterans ?

How is the Ranfurly trust going to be able to ensure that the current residents are going to be provided for ? Sure they will get an income of $203,125 per year  but how are they  going to ensure  the continued care of  the residents  ?   what has been put in place?     what obligations do the  new owners have   and what stops them form liquidating and transferring assets as developers   frequently do.. what then ?

It would be wonderful if the current trustees of the trust could be more transparent and provide a copy of the agreement between themselves and the developers. It appears to me that the trustees have given away all their rights and are left with obligations which they cannot fulfill.