Mohammed Jameel & Son's Ltd, which traded as MJS Painters + Decorators, has been put into liquidation owing an estimated $1.6 million to Inland Revenue.Te Tari Taake. Photo: Supplied The director of an award-winning Central Otago painting company being liquidated owing $1.6 million says he put his ‘‘heart and soul’’ into the business and is gutted he could not save it. Mohammed Jameel & Son’s Ltd was placed into liquidation this month by shareholder resolution. The company traded as MJS Painters + Decorators, which was based in Cromwell and serviced the Queenstown, Arrowtown, Frankton, Gibbston and Wānaka areas. The liquidators’ first report, released last week, estimated liabilities of $1,609,110.36 to Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake and $40,000 to secured creditors. ‘‘Poor trading conditions meant the company could not meet its debts as they fell due. ‘‘The company had been issued a statutory demand by Inland Revenue.’’ It was unknown if there would be sufficient realisable assets to enable a distribution to any class of creditors, the report said. Irshad Mohammed, the company’s sole director, said being put into liquidation was something no-one wanted to go through. ‘‘I put my heart and soul in this company,’’ Mr Mohammed said. ‘‘Me and my wife, we have been working for [the] last six months, continuous 70-80 hours a week, just to get the work done and so we can pay some of the debts. ‘‘We couldn’t save it, so pretty gutted.’’ Mohammed Jameel & Son’s Ltd was incorporated in 2011. In 2024, it won the large residential complex new interior category at the Master Painters New Zealand Awards of Excellence. The MJS Painters + Decorators website listed projects including Queenstown’s O’Connells mall, Quest Apartment Hotels, Shotover Primary School and New World Wānaka. Mr Mohammed said the company signed on to a couple of big projects in Queenstown just after the Covid-19 pandemic for a low price as they were worried they might not have enough work for their staff. That included work on the Arvida Queenstown Country Club, about 2022. But because of a clause that meant cost fluctuations for materials and labour could not be claimed back, Mr Mohammed said what should have cost around $900,000 ended up costing them $2m. Supply-side issues also meant there were a lot of delays from their main contractor and the company ended up hiring more people to get the job done, who turned out to not know what they were doing. While all staff, subcontractors and suppliers for that job were paid, the company failed to pay the IRD on time, Mr Mohammed said. They had an arrangement last year to pay a lump sum to the IRD monthly, but Mr Mohammed said about four or five months were ‘‘wasted’’ by talking to accountants and seeking online advisory services. There were also cash flow issues from some contractors not paying on time and the company defaulted on a couple of payments. ‘‘By the time we engaged a lawyer to negotiate with the IRD, it was too late.’’ IRD filed an application to put Mohammed Jameel & Son’s Ltd into liquidation in the High Court at Dunedin in May. Mr Mohammed said the $1.6m was mainly accumulated penalties and he believed the core debt could ‘‘definitely’’ be paid if on arrangement. The company had already paid off some of the debt to the IRD. They were in talks with the liquidators about whether they could buy back the assets of the company at market value, so they could potentially get work from some of their former clients, Mr Mohammed said. The plan was to also transfer the small amount of debt owed to contractors and suppliers to a new entity, which was not yet fully registered. ‘‘We may be able to pay some or most of the debt, if we’re given a chance.’’ tim.scott@odt.co.nz
