By Georgina Wilcox

On the 25th September 2017 a Winding Up Order was issued by Cayman Islands Justice Segal for United Cacao Limited SEZC.

Liquidators appointed are Christopher D. Johnson and Mr Russell Homer of Chris Johnson Associates Ltd., Elizabethan Square, P.O. Box 2499, 80 Shedden Road, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands KY1-1104.

The following has been taken from United Cacao Limited SEZC’s Facebook Page:

Dec 12 2016

DGAAA: http://www.unitedcacao.com/…/fin…/466-dgaaa-soil-certificate

DGAAA Soil Certificate
United Cacao Limited SEZC is the first publicly listed pure-play cacao producer globally and the first publicly listed tropical plantation company in Latin America. It is registered and trades on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol CHOC.
WWW.UNITEDCACAO.COM

June 14 2017

Investor Update 14th June 2017: More “fake news” from UCL directors Tim O’Neill and Nicolas Van Broekhoven on 9th June. They forgot to include in the update that they unilaterally called for DEFAULT of the Secured Bonds on 17th May 2017. Here is document: http://unitedcacaoscam.com/secured-bond-default-20170517.pdf. Note that the reason for the event of default (EoD) was the lack of AIM listing which was originally waived on 22 February 2017! How can UCL directors not announce that they have called for DEFAULT unilaterally on UCL’s debt securities, the same securities which have been the subject of numerous previous announcements and securities which they bought for pennies on the dollar earlier?
unitedcacaoscam.com
UNITEDCACAOSCAM.COM

Investor Update 14th June 2017: Asset Stripping by UCL Directors Tim O’Neill and Nicolas Van Broekhoven. UCL Directors violating Cayman law and self-dealing Company Assets. Directors now actively working to replace longstanding trustee with their own SPV vehicle to better steal assets as existing trustee won’t play their dirty game. Here is document dated 6th June 2017: http://unitedcacaoscam.com/notice-to-change-trustee-2017060….
Again no mention of this in the “Investor Update of 9th June” !

June 15 2017

Investor Alert at 15 June 2017: Albecq (www.albecq.com) confirms they STILL REMAIN trustee for the Secured Bonds.
Triangulum Limited, the supposed new trust agent, was incorporated on 26 May 2017. Search here: www.gov.im/cate…/business-and-industries/companies-registry/

Middleton Katz is the company secretary for Triangulum. They can be contacted here: www.middletonkatz.com/contact-us/

Even more “fake news” from UCL… Triangulum is NOT a private trust as they claim in the resolution to bondholders on 6th June. It is a company limited by shares as shown by the Isle of Man registry. Who owns these shares ? Who is stealing the asset ?

Investor Alert 15 June 2017: 3rd January 2017 Letter Exposed!
http://unitedcacaoscam.com/existing-investor-group-letter-2…

See Daily Telegraph UK story “United Cacao: the sad tale of when things really go wrong for Aim investors” at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/02/19/united-cacaothe-sad-tale-things-really-go-wrong-aim-investors/

The article says, “Four years ago entrepreneur and former investment banker Dennis Melka spied an opportunity in the cocoa market.

“The vast majority of the world’s crop, indigenous to South America, was being farmed in West Africa, dominated by small, poor growers. Estates were tired and inefficient and employed what Melka called “horrific labour practices”. Weather was not ideal either: this corner of West Africa is susceptible to drought and disease – cacao trees need lots of rainfall – and is never far from political unrest.

“Melka, a former investment banker at Credit Suisse, decided to repatriate production to the homeland of the cacao bean. He targeted the source of the Amazon in Peru, where wetter climes and large-scale corporate cultivation were more favourable. There were also lucrative tax advantages. At the time, Melka called it “the best place on Earth and the lowest-cost location to grow cacao”.

“A year later, in 2014, United Cacao floated on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim). Melka’s backers were largely high-net worth friends, family offices and former colleagues from his banking years. United Cacao raised £6.4m from the sale of 5m shares, valuing the company at £23m.”

Things started out well but then came disaster. “The company ran out of money, its nominated advisor (Nomad) resigned in January and in February it officially de-listed from Aim.”

Then came a “major shareholder dispute.

“I can totally understand if we had been hit with disease or an operational mishap,” says one investor. “Because that was the true risk. What I hadn’t expected was a risk on corporate governance.”

“Under pressure, Melka gave up the chairmanship and took up the position of managing director in September. Early backer Constantine Conticas became chairman, while Nicolas Van Broekhoven, another shareholder, and Tim O’Neill became non-executives.”

“Melka and two other board members left the company.”

“The current board, Conticas and non-executive directors Van Broekhoven and O’Neill, are attempting to raise cash to keep the company afloat. So far they have raised $700,000, but this a fraction of what is needed.”
The article was written in February 19 2017. The above is only a small part of the article.

See also https://sharesoc.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/united-cacao-the-perils-of-aim-and-fyffes/

This article gives a moral to the story: “There are very high risks when one invests in companies with no revenues or profits. This was essentially a start-up with an unproven business model, i.e. can cocoa be produced profitably in Peru? Nobody really knows.”

And see http://www.redd-monitor.org/2015/09/26/dennis-melka-exporting-deforestation-from-sarawak-to-peru/

This one states: “United Cacao is part of the Melka Group. In its report, the Environmental Investigation Agency describes the Melka Group as “a network of companies linked to massive deforestation and corrupt land deals in Malaysia”. The Melka Group’s corporate structure is opaque, involving a series shell companies and offshore accounts.

“United Cacao is registered in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands. The company has even managed to make an agreement with the Cayman Islands’ government, which states that any tax laws enacted in the next 20 years will not apply to United Cacao.”