Dozens of directors receive ban
A record 38 failed businesspeople have been banned from being directors of any company in the past year, including one for a record 10 years.
Two other directors have also received lengthy bans from the Registrar of Companies.
Nelson man Robert Cottle is the first to serve the maximum 10-year ban for his negligence as sole director of failed goldmining company Infratech Mining.
Cottle lost millions of investor dollars on the premise that he could set up Colombia’s largest and most profitable goldmine.
The former bankrupt started the company in 2009 and claimed the business owned licences to set up gold and platinum mines in Colombia that could pay returns of up to 1000 per cent a year.
His pitch to investors grew from seeking $9 million to $100m and led Cottle to some dubious money lenders around the world, including businessmen who had been convicted of running ponzi schemes.
The maximum length of bans was extended from five years to 10 years in 2014, while the average for last year was 51⁄2 years.
Hamilton businessman Steven Morrow has been banned for nine years after three business failures.
Morrow owed the Inland Revenue Department about $350,000 in PAYE and instead used the money for other purposes that included personal spending and shifting it between companies.
Last year Morrow pleaded guilty to 40 charges and was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
Kendall Twigden was banned for 81⁄2 years. Twigden was either a sole or codirector of three companies, Phoenix Forex, Restaurant Ltd and Acorn Publishing, all of which failed.
In 2013 the Financial Markets Authority warned investors against dealing with Phoenix Forex and the company owed creditors about $2.1 million.
Inland Revenue claimed Phoenix Forex owed $1.4m in unpaid taxes.
In his decision, deputy registrar of Companies Office Peter Barker called Twigden a ‘‘menace to the public’’.
‘‘I consider Ms Twigden has thumbed her nose at the IRD and has effectively disregarded the IRD as a creditor. Her mismanagement was either wilful or fundamentally ignorant of what is required of a company director,’’ Barker said.
Institute of Directors chief executive Kirsten Patterson said the list of banned directors was ‘‘very disappointing’’.
She said it raised the importance of having regulatory codes that ensure directors abide by their legal, commercial and ethical responsibilities.