STA Travel liquidated owing $11m

STA Travel’s New Zealand companies have been placed into liquidation owing $11 million and efforts are continuing to trace customer funds.

The decision was made yesterday at a watershed meeting of creditors, about 1100 of whom had registered with Deloitte which was appointed last month when the group’s three New Zealand entities went into administration following the collapse of their

Swiss-based parent.

Deloitte liquidator David Webb said the $11m was owed to travel customers and providers, landlords and employees, and he did not believe there was any money to pay unsecured or preferential creditors of the travel agency.

Further investigations were required to trace the location of customers’ funds, and liquidators would also review the actions of the companies prior to going into administration.

‘‘Because the international STA group has run a global treasury and finance function, this has meant that a lot of the necessary data and information have been difficult to secure,’’ a statement from Deloitte said.

A report sent to creditors last week said the company did not have a separate trust account for customer deposits or refunds.

Investigators had discovered ‘‘significant co-mingling’’ of money in bank accounts, and they said the company transferred money from its client fund account to its operating account to pay expenses such as wages, tax and rent.

Some customers had successfully sought chargebacks for payments made to STA Travel by credit and debit cards, and they were no longer creditors, but that option was not open to those who paid by bank transfers.

Two other related companies,

IEP New Zealand Ltd, which arranged work exchange placements and visas, and student identity card provider NNS New Zealand Ltd, are also in liquidation following creditors meetings yesterday.

Webb said IEP creditors may receive a small payment, but the main issue for customers was whether they were allowed to remain in New Zealand.

Immigration NZ said IEP had a quota of 450 places for the work exchange programme which was suspended in March when lockdown began, and at that stage 309 places had not been allocated.

Investigators had discovered ‘‘significant comingling’’ of money in bank accounts.