Ticket income, refunds in dispute

Harvie said his concern was making sure supporters who bought tickets for cancelled matches were able to get refunds.

“Our understanding is that all but a few of our supporters have received refunds from cancelled matches already.”

Davey appeared to reduce his shareholding in the Highlanders in late May but still holds 27 per cent of the franchise according to Companies Office records.

A director of the Highlanders since 2016, he had previously been the majority owner of the franchise.

NZ Rugby did not respond to a request for comment.

Concerns about the state of the company appear to be growing this month, with reports of people who purchased tickets for sporting events and shows saying they had not been able to reach the company to get a refund.

Earlier this month the Palmerston North City Council won a High Court order over Fortress Information Systems Limited (FISL), a different company which is also owned by Davey and which trades as Ticket Rocket.

The council applied for the order claiming it was owed $675,958.40 by

FISL related to speedway events and under-18 Softball World Cup matches in the city in February, which it believed were supposed to be held in trust.

Justice Rachel Dunningham’s judgment said Davey had both acknowledged the money was owed and that his company had “cash-flow problems”.

The judge granted temporary freezing orders to prevent the funds being moved from a BNZ account.

“I accept there is a real risk that FISL has been using, or will use funds held on trust to meet its cash-flow requirements, or debts unrelated to the trust fund.”