Watson companies owe $200m — and his mum is creditor
Art salesman Gary Langsford, secretive Panamanian company also listed by liquidators
Asecretive Panama company, a renowned art salesman and Eric Watson’s mother are among a long list of unsecured creditors registered to the Cullen Group of companies recently placed in liquidation.
KPMG’s Vivian Fatupaito and Luke Norman were appointed liquidators of 11 Watson-linked companies in December after the High Court declined to halt insolvency proceedings against Cullen Group brought by the Inland Revenue.
The tax department had been pursuing liquidation after Justice Matthew Palmer ruled in March that Cullen Group was part of Watson’s “web of entities” designed to avoid paying nonresident withholding tax. Inland Revenue won a $112 million tax judgment against Cullen, which has since lodged an appeal to be heard in February.
Separate from the IRD judgment, Watson and two other entities linked to him had previously been told to pay more than £43.5m ($85.5m) plus accruing interest to fellow New Zealand businessman Sir Owen Glenn.
That came after the UK High Court ruled Glenn’s company Kea Investments was entitled to compensation having established Watson engaged in “deliberate deception” when setting up a joint venture called Spartan Capital.
Fatupaito’s first liquidation report outlines the group structure, showing Cullen Group’s parent is Hong Kongregistered Zedra Asia Limited. Subsidiary companies subsequently moved into liquidation by the shareholder include Cullen Investments, Bush Inn Properties, Batty Road Holdings, Cullen Inc Holdings, Cullen Portfolio, EW Leasing, EGB Holdings, Serious Holdings, Topical Investments and Watson Bloodstock.
It is not known exactly how much Cullen Group and the associated companies in liquidation owe creditors. However, Watson and his companies owe about $200m because of court decisions in the UK and NZ.
A list of secured creditors in the Cullen liquidation includes the Bank of New Zealand, but the liquidators have established the bank has no amounts outstanding.
Unsecured creditors range from related entities to legal firms to private individuals, including Watson’s
mother Joan Pollock and art salesman Gary Langsford.
Pollock is named as an unsecured creditor of Cullen Investments, although it is not clear whether she is still owed any money. In May 2015 Watson wrote an op-ed in the Herald on Sunday reflecting on Pollock’s strength and determination after her battles with cancer.
Munil Development Inc, a Panamanian company that received more than £12m of the money Kea invested into Project Spartan, is listed as a creditor of Cullen Investments.
Munil is owned by the Samos Trust, which had been set up for Watson, and was a defendant in the Glenn proceedings, according to the UK court judgment.
Emails produced as evidence in the trial showed a desire to hide Munil’s involvement in Spartan from Kea Investments.
Glenn and Watson had invested in several projects together, including the NZ Warriors rugby league team. Their major investment was Project Spartan, a complex real estate opportunity that focused on ground rents, affordable housing and residential portfolios.
Glenn believed he was purchasing a 50 per cent stake in Project Spartan from Watson’s existing partner for £22.5m.
Watson would continue to own the other 50 per cent.
Justice Nugee decided this was fraudulent misrepresentation as £10m of the £22.5m went to the seller of the 50 per cent stake, and the other £12.5m effectively went to parties associated with Watson, including Munil Developments.
Fatupaito and Norman noted Glenn had an injunction against Watson in the UK that froze his assets for failing to pay the £43.5m judgment obtained against him.
“The liquidators have been in contact with Sir Glenn’s legal advisers to assess the impact this order has on the liquidations within the Cullen Group and to obtain records in relation to the Cullen Group.”
The liquidators said they still needed to access a significant number of related party transactions. They have requested more information from several parties, including Watson and the IRD, and appealed for creditors to come forward.
Watson has never been far from the news since the failure of Hanover Finance in 2008.
He recently sold out of lingerie company Bendon after a merger with Nasdaq-listed Naked Brand Group and is no longer associated with Long Island Iced Tea, now Long Blockchain after a change from beverage manufacturing to blockchain technology.
Last July it was revealed US authorities are investigating possible insider trading and securities fraud connected to Long Blockchain after the arrest of Canadian citizen Oliver Lindsay and Californian stock promoter Gannon Giguiere. According to a search warrant request, the FBI is focused on apparent conversations in late 2017 about share trading.