It came as a surprise to Steven Dallinger when accountants holding a High Court order told him they were now in charge of Murupara farming decisions, part of an ongoing dispute with his former partner Tania Capper over control of their relationship property.
The two jointly own Riverside Pride Ltd, a 160 hectare dairy farm near Murupara in Bay of Plenty. The High Court was told Steven and Tania had been together since 2001, starting out as sharemilkers and progressing to ownership of their own farm as shareholders in Riverside Pride. Their relationship has ended; the two separated in late 2019 after she was physically assaulted. Steven was charged and convicted; Tania obtained a protection order against him. They now communicate only through their lawyers.
Tania alleges that Steven is running down Riverside assets; part of a scheme to reduce the value of her half share in the farm, she says. There are allegations of company assets being sold at an undervalue to a separate business owned by Steve, of Fonterra milk payouts being diverted to a bank account he controls and of livestock sales not being credited to the farm account.
Tania asked the High Court to appoint interim liquidators to take control of Riverside. Steven was not told of the court application. Tania said it had to be done quickly and quietly because of her ongoing concern about Riverside’s value being eroded. Associate judge Taylor appointed insolvency specialists from KhovJones to take control of all company assets and to report back to the court on Riverside’s current financial position.
The court was told there is also a subsidiary dispute over Riverside’s lease of farmland owned by a Tapper family trust. Tania is a trust beneficiary.
Capper v. Dallinger – High Court (1.09.22)
22.155