Pacific Trust leaves debts of $825,000
A chaotic Christchurch Pasifika health and social services agency has been wound up owing $825,930 to unsecured creditors.
Pacific Trust Canterbury (PTC), established in 1999 to improve the health and conditions of Pasifika people, operated a medical clinic and provided social services under contract from Government agencies.
Liquidators Malcolm Hollis and Wendy Somerville of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) were called in on September 2 last year and completed their liquidation this month.
Final accounts show the trust’s
32 employees, who claimed
$205,552 in holiday pay, time in lieu and redundancy, were paid 84 per cent of their entitlements.
Inland Revenue was owed
$99,667 in mainly PAYE payments, but a GST refund it owed PTC left it only $10,574 out of pocket.
Although the liquidators recovered $361,863, no funds were left to pay 39 unsecured claims of
$825,930.
The trustees, who have not spoken publicly, have previously blamed cashflow difficulties, service delivery and funding issues.
However, a Ministry of Health investigation last year found the trust left funded positions vacant, kept inaccurate records and ripped off intellectual property.
It said the trust had underdelivered on contracts to provide anti-obesity, smoking cessation, immunisation and nutrition services so it was liable to return about $700,000 of funding.
Services provided under contract to the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) and the ministry were understaffed and failed to achieve agreed outcomes, the report said.
In the year to June 2015, PTC had an income of more than $5 million and spent $4.7m, leaving it in surplus.
Its main funders – the CDHB, the ministry and Pacific Futures – were not prepared to continue to support the trust or to consider a recovery plan put forward by the PTC board last year.
PTC was managed by Tony Fakahau for about eight years until he resigned in June last year. A new trust board led by chair Selma Scott, a Christchurch lawyer, took over in September last year. Scott was a former chair of the Pacific Business Trust.