Former HIH directors Ray Williams, Rodney Adler and Dominic Fodera are not only under investigation by ASIC – the HIH provisional liquidator is also considering what to do about them.

Mr Williams, the founder and former chief executive of HIH; Mr Adler, a former FAI chief and HIH director; and Mr Fodera, the company’s former finance chief, an executive director and interim CEO before Randolph Wein was appointed, have had their assets frozen by ASIC as it continues its investigations into the collapse.

Provisional liquidator Tony McGrath has indicated that some of HIH’s future payout money may come from future legal claims that “include, but would not be limited to, actions against auditors, directors and officers”.

The ASIC investigation is understood to revolve around a $10 million trust controlled by Mr Adler as well as what was described in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday as “a number of suspect transactions” that total $22 million. Reinsurance arrangements worth more than $180 million are also understood to be involved.

Of particular interest is the Australian equities unit trust set up as an investment vehicle that was allegedly run by Mr Adler. Several weeks before the trust was properly enacted, HIH allegedly paid $10 million to an Adler company, Pacific Eagle Equities. Over the next two weeks, PEE bought nearly 4 million HIH shares at about $1 a share.

It’s alleged Mr Adler used much of the remaining money in the trust to make a series of dot.com investments, some of which were already associated with him.

ASIC alleges these investments were transferred to the trust at their full value, despite doubts over their capital adequacy.

While Mr Williams has been silent on the charges, Mr Adler said on Friday he is happy to “work through the court system with ASIC”. He told Sydney radio station 2GB: “If there is wrongdoing, it is very technical in nature.”

ASIC is seeking orders for the three directors to be disqualified from managing companies for an unspecified period, and also wants them fined and made to pay compensation.