'Campaign' knowledge denied

Jim Boult
Jim Boult

Queenstown's mayoral candidates have disavowed any knowledge of the "alleged campaign" that led candidate Jim Boult to complain to police.

Mr Boult said in a statement on Thursday he was "aware of actions which may have had the intent of trying to influence the outcome of the election against me" and that he had no time for "dirty politics".

He has declined to provide details.

Candidate Lyal Cocks said yesterday he did not know what Mr Boult was referring to or what matters might require a police investigation.

And he accused Mr Boult of making "unfounded accusations of dirty politics" which unfairly "cast aspersions on all candidates".

Candidate John Mann said he had been "unfairly dragged into [Mr Boult’s] conspiracy theory by inference"; candidate Roger Tompkins said he was not aware of any campaign against Mr Boult, "other than what I have read in the Otago Daily Times"; and candidate Al Angus described Mr Boult’s complaint as "just nonsense".

Mr Boult is one of those under investigation following the collapse in February of national building franchise company Stonewood Homes.

Mr Boult was the executive chairman until three weeks before the company went into receivership, and the ODT understands a Queenstown property developer is funding the liquidator’s investigation into the collapse.

The assets of the two Stonewood companies were bought by Auckland company Inno Capital in March.

John Chow.
John Chow.

Inno Capital director John Chow said in a statement yesterday  the Stonewood companies had been insolvent for at least five months before being placed in receivership in February.

"When we met in person with Stonewood’s directors in [January or February], I specifically recall we pointed out to them that the two companies were insolvent.‘‘Our subsequent analysis later confirmed they were insolvent for at least five months prior to receivership.

"Some of what we came across prior to making an offer to the receivers earlier this year really shocked us," Mr Chow said.

He was "very surprised" the directors "of the old Stonewood" held only one minuted board meeting during 2015.

"Given the precarious financial position of their companies, this seemed highly unusual."

Inno also found "several unusually large payments to some key suppliers to the old Stonewood just prior to the receivership", Mr Chow said.

Mr Boult said in an email yesterday he would not be commenting on Mr Chow’s statement.

Asked if it was legal for a company to continue trading while it was insolvent, head of the University of Otago’s business school David Lont said  it was "in breach of the rules" to trade while insolvent.

However, whether a company was technically insolvent depended mainly on whether it had the support of its banks and other financiers, he said yesterday.

"You have got to be careful in that space.

"Insolvency is a tough one because if the banks are supporting a company then it’s not insolvent, but if they withdraw support then it can create a problem."

It was not always clear that "poor financials indicate insolvency", Prof Lont said.

Mr Chow said he and fellow Inno directors were supporting the liquidator’s investigation.

However, they were concerned the liquidation process was casting the Stonewood brand "in a bad light" and he hoped the public was "capable of making a distinction between the old Stonewood and the new", Mr Chow said.

mark.price@odt.co.nz

 

Candidates’ views

Mayoral candidates’ views on an "alleged campaign" against candidate Jim Boult. —

Roger Tompkins

"I am not personally aware of any campaign against Mr Boult, other than what I have read in the ODT. I believe the role of mayor, considering the crossroads that the QLDC is in, requires a full-time mayor, with no distractions of this kind (the Stonewood investigation). Put short, you can’t be mayor and be a primary focus of an insolvency inquiry about potential recklessness as a director."

Lyal Cocks

"Making unfounded accusations of dirty politics public, unfairly casts aspersions on all candidates."

Al Angus

"If I’ve got anything to say to Boult I’ll say it to his face, and I did, regarding the asset sales. I’ve got no idea about the conspiracy thing. I think more than likely it’s just smoke ... It’s just nonsense."

John Mann

"During the campaign, quite naturally I have been aware of expressed opinion concerning my fellow candidates. Unfortunately, I do have concerns that Mr Boult may be guilty of obfuscating what is essentially a civil matter into a political one essentially for electioneering purposes. This has unfairly dragged me into his conspiracy theory by inference."

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