Diamond geezer leaves ‘trail of chaos’
Angry creditors say failed builder ‘back to his old ways’ despite being banned as a director, writes Bevan Hurley.
A bankrupt property developer bought his fiance´ a diamond engagement ring after his firm went bust owing $6 million. Now he has left a ‘trail of chaos’ at his latest building project.
Hamish James Clarke, 35, was the ‘‘project director’’ for a company called NMHB Ltd that was paid $1m to develop a block of six apartments Rabone St in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson.
But Clarke and his fellow former Valiant Homes partner Sam Tolich, the project manager, walked off the site and padlocked the gates in March, leaving angry, unpaid subcontractors.
Site owner Mark Kearney, who contracted NMHB to build the apartment block, said he was unaware Clarke was an undischarged bankrupt.
He said when he confronted Clarke and Tolich about the non payments to contractors, they became ‘‘very aggressive’’. They denied Clarke was a site manager.
A Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment spokesman said they were now investigating whether Clarke had breached the terms of his bankruptcy.
Kearney said he negotiated the contracts directly with Clarke and Tolich whom he understood acted on behalf of NMHB.
‘‘They have been paid a million dollars and they’ve buggered off.’’
‘‘Clarke never disclosed that he was an undischarged bankrupt and when I researched him I found a trail of chaos.’’
This week, Kearney said a lawyer acting for Sam Tolich, Paul Dalkie, had tried to claim Clarke was not involved with the company.
But documents obtained by Sunday Star Times show Clarke listed as a project director on official letterhead, with a company email address.
Another man, David Karnie Smith, is listed as NMHB’s sole director and shareholder, but Kearney said he didn’t have anything to do with Smith during contract negotiations.
Meanwhile, unpaid sub- contractors are going to court to try to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars they say they are owed.
Concrete Structures general manager Paul Romanes said he’d only been paid $17,000 out of the $300,000 his company was owed. ‘‘We thought they were 100 per cent legit. We started digging around and it exploded in our face.’’
He has since tried to liquidate the company.
Nelson Stud Wielding general manager Mike Smart said they had only been paid a 50 per cent deposit – and were owed another $16,000.
‘‘We’ve been chasing it for a while to no avail of course. I’m tired of these kind of people who rip us off.’’
His advice to others was: ‘‘Don’t go near them. You’re going to get burnt.’’
Another contractor said Tolich and Clarke were ‘‘back to their old ways’’. ‘‘We’ve got a whole lot more regulations that we have to adhere to because of cowboys like this.’’
The Rabone St development, comprising six two-storey apartments, is being marketed by real estate agents. Kearney said he was trying to terminate NMHB’s contract and continue with more honest and reputable contractors and complete the work.
Attempts to reach David Karnie Smith were unsuccessful. According to papers filed with the Companies Office, Smith listed his home at several different Auckland addresses including an uninhabited unit in an industrial park in Rosedale, north Auckland.
A search on the Personal Property Securities Register for Smith came back with a phone number and email address for Sam Tolich.
Tolich did not respond to a detailed list of questions. His lawyer Paul Dalkie did not comment.
Both Tolich and Clarke were codirectors and shareholders of Valiant Homes, which went bust in March 2015 owing millions to creditors. In August that year, Clarke angered creditors by purchasing his fiancee a diamond engagement ring and staying in $1500-a-night hotels in Italy.
He was declared bankrupt on July 7, 2016 and in August 2017 was banned from being a company director for seven years.
An MBIE spokesman said Clarke has appealed his director prohibition, however the ban remains in force pending the determination of the appeal.
Clarke has been granted permission to travel overseas since being declared bankrupt.