Failed Investments
In the early years of the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Development Trust, construction of two of five high-rise luxury condos in Hawaii (on the island of Oahu) have been built. The five towers (two completed as of 10/05) are located on prime Honolulu real estate with ocean views and represent a benchmark in Honolulu luxury high-rises. Other investments included Nauru House in Melbourne and Hawaiki Tower in Honolulu. These luxury properties were only part of an international real estate portfolio that stretched into countries including Australia, the Philippines, Fiji, Guam, Samoa, the United States of America, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Financial mismanagement and extravagant government spending (i.e.: investing A$4 million in a London play, Leonardo the Musical: A Portrait of Love, about Leonardo da Vinci's love life which flopped after weeks of bad reviews) led to increased spending—and increased loans—which were levied upon the real estate holdings of the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust. One loan, of A$236 million from General Electric, which was used as a loan to pay off all other loans, could not be paid back by the government. This led to G.E. seizing Nauru's international real estate developments, including the trademark Nauru House in Australia.
Read more about this topic: Nauru Phosphate Corporation
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