Investors in Portus Alternative Asset Management have moved a step closer to recovering some of their money after a judge placed the troubled financial company in bankruptcy.

Judge Colin Campbell of the Ontario Superior Court issued the order Friday.

About 26,000 investors – most in Ontario – placed almost $800 million in the Portus family of hedge funds.

While the bulk of the money has been located, millions remain unaccounted for. In January, the Ontario Securities Commission said it did not know how much investors would eventually be able to recover.

Creditors must file claims and will find out in June how much they'll get back. The biggest creditor is Manulife Financial, which steered many of its clients to Portus financial products. Manulife announced a year ago that Manulife would guarantee the recovery of all the money its clients had invested with Portus.

Portus co-founder Boaz Manor moved to Israel when the firm was shut down. He has denied wrongdoing.

The OSC alleged last fall that Portus had improperly diverted $95.4 million. It has laid three charges against Manor under the Ontario Securities Act. The Commission has alleged that Manor used $11 million US of the funds raised to buy diamonds and other gems.