After
conviction for theft, Nelson liquidator Patrick Dean Norris ground down
replacement liquidators with ongoing litigation leaving them without cash and with
little choice but closing down further investigations.
Ernst & Young
insolvency specialists, Bruce Gemmell and Rhys Cain, took over liquidation of
four companies after Norris was convicted in October 2012 of theft by a person
in a special relationship. Norris failed
to account for $80,960 received in his capacity as liquidator of property
company Astra Enterprises Ltd. He
claimed fees without justification, rendering false invoices.
Armed with a High Court
“search and seizure” order, new liquidators sought to recover records held by
Norris for the four companies. They
could not just march in and take the records as is normally done at the start
of any liquidation; the companies were already in liquidation. There was a real concern Norris might not
voluntarily provide all required information, given his recent conviction for
dishonesty. Their access to any records
was then disputed over a series of court cases, exhausting all resources of the
companies in liquidation bar the $80,960 Norris is required to repay. This has not been paid. In the latest iteration of the “search and
seizure” litigation, the new liquidators simply asked that the liquidations,
except Astra Properties, be “closed down”.
It is not for the court to close down any liquidation in a “search and
seizure” dispute, Justice Churchman ruled.
It is for liquidators to follow procedures in the Companies Act. Norris is still liable personally to pay
costs awards made against him in earlier litigation together with accrued
interest, he said.
Gemmell
v. Norris – High Court (29.09.17)
17.126