"We trusted him," one investor said outside court.
"It has been life-wrenching ... so much has gone."
At least $15 million remains unaccounted for. A reparation hearing has been ordered to ascertain the extent of Kloogh’s remaining assets.
A 10-month Serious Fraud Office investigation has resulted in his guilty pleas to 11 of 12 charges laid; a charge of making a false statement will be considered by the court in April.
Kloogh (57) plead guilty to individual charges of forgery (4), obtaining by deception (2) and theft by person in special relationship, and representative charges of false accounting, making a false statement, theft by person in special relationship and obtaining by deception.
The various charges have maximum penalties of between three and 10 years’ imprisonment; he will be sentenced on May 14.
Kloogh’s lawyer Sarah Saunderson-Warner said her client accepted he would be sentenced to imprisonment.
Serious Fraud Office director Julie Read said Kloogh had left many victims out of pocket.
"Mr Kloogh exploited the trust and goodwill of his clients to misappropriate a significant amount of money from them.
"Many victims lost their retirement savings and are not in a position to recover financially."
Lawyer Geoff Mirkin, who is co-ordinating a group of lawyers and advisers acting pro bono to assist investors affected by Kloogh, said his guilty plea would come as some relief to people who had lost so much.
"It’s the next stage of the ongoing journey, but it doesn’t get them back any money," he said.
"But they will be relieved that he didn’t apply for bail, that he is in custody, and that they will have a chance to read their victim impact statements."
Judge Bruce Northwood agreed to a request from the SFO’s lawyer, Marie Grills, that half a day be set aside for sentencing, given the number of statements to be heard.
When his firms were placed into liquidation, Kloogh had 2000 active clients.
The liquidator’s first report, released last October, said evidence showed the companies operated as a Ponzi scheme controlled by Mr Kloogh.
The SFO and the Official Assignee — who is now handling the liquidation process — have each made strenuous efforts to contact all affected investors.
However, exactly how much was taken by Kloogh may never be known.
Yesterday’s appearance was delayed by 90 minutes and transferred to a larger room as the scheduled venue was unable to house the number of investors who wanted their day in court.
The former clients of Kloogh, who by court order are unable to be identified, said their former adviser’s early guilty pleas were welcome, as they avoided the need for a lengthy trial.
"I live down south and I thought to myself ‘I’ll be following him down the road to the Hilton [the Otago Corrections Facility at Milton]’," one woman said.
"I guess it is going to shorten the stress for us all," another said.
"It’s never going to go, but the fact he has pleaded guilty means it won’t be stretched out for so long."
"It is good that we have dates now," a man said.
"We know when sentencing is, he’s been put away, and we can get on with tackling the people who really should have been protecting us."
Another investor said she had first invested with Kloogh 30 years ago and got her money back, and hence had had no qualms about dealing with him again.
"He told us our money was going into a trust but I wish, well, that’s hindsight ... the only thing is, he had shiny Italian suits the next time. He never had those when we first met him.
"It was all show."
