Transparency New Zealand

Open letter to  Craig Foss Minister of small business

Good Morning Minster

I am  approaching you in your capacity as  minster for small business and wish to bring to your attention a major flaw which I have identified in  the enforcement of the companies act with regards to small businesses.

We appear to have entered  a phase where economics  are  considered before justice  and  this  is distinctly in favour  of those who  breach the provisions of the companies act.

I am a licenced Private Investigator / Former long serving  police and  prosecuting sergeant .  Earlier this year  a young man approached  me  when  his lawyers advised him that after spending $50,000  with them  to seek justice it would take another $42,000  to  get the matter to trial and since it appeared that the company  was insolvent  there was no point in pursuing the matter .

In brief the circumstances are my client  Jozsef Gabor SZEKELY  and Samuel Raymond North are chefs, together they  purchased a  restaurant  for $90,000 they set up a company called Muse on Allen Limited and were 70/30   share holders .

Jozsef is an immigrant to New Zealand  . Samuels Father,  Malcolm North  is an Employment Broker for the ministry of  Social Development.  Malcolm  helped and supported the two boys in getting the business started   but it now appears that as far as Jozsef was concerned there as an ulterior motive, that was   to provide his son with a company financed by some one else.

Samuel gave the company key to his mother she used this  to  appointed herself as director and backdated this to the companies date of formation.

Samuel   reduced Jozsef’s shares  to 49% ,  then appointed his father as director, removed Jozsef and  finally transferring  all the shares into his own name. this was all done contrary to the act and without the injection of more share capital

This occurred in January 2013   less than  6 months after the company was formed.  Jozsef immediately went to see  lawyers .  It was correctly identified as fraud  but  could not get the police to take a complaint .

The lawyers took the matter to court under section 174  of the companies act   and  Jozsef  spent most of his time  earning money to pay the  lawyers.

Malcolm   represented the company in court and even  posed as though he was counsel  this   caused  Jozsef’s expenses with the lawyers to go out of hand .

The company would not  give Jozsef any of the documents which a shareholder is rightfully entitled to but they were released to  Jozsef’s lawyers under confidentiality  and   copies remain in  their office  and no duplicates have been released.

When the lawyers withdrew Jozsef approached me,  I attempted to get the registrar to correct  the  on line register  based on a set of accounts which we had obtained outside the discovery process.

The registrar   however would not act as they claimed that  redress was available through the courts .

I acted as a Mc Kenzie friend for Jozsef and  supported him in representing himself in court ,the matter was   to have  been set down for a formal proof hearing  but now   the company  has engaged counsel ( instructed by the   very directors who  have  breached the companies act  in so many ways )  and it is set for a three day trial in September  on the matter of   Jozsef being a disadvantaged shareholder.

In early June   we were advised  By Malcolm North  that the former lawyers for the company   have taken the company to  liquidation court and the company could    be wound up  before the hearing.

Jozsef has not only lost his $64,000  investment in the company but has paid $50,000  in an attempt to  have his rights enforced.

The  final straw came  when   the company sued  Jozsef on 19 June   in the district court  for the losses  which the directors  have incurred in the company since unlawfully  removing   Josef’s shareholding .

The whole purpose of a limited liability company is that    the   losses are limited to  that of the shareholders  equity  yet   Jozsef now finds himself burdened with a second set of court proceedings.

So we now have an ironic situation   where by   Josef’s shareholding has been removed from him  and he is  being  held responsible for losses in the company due to being a share holder

I have prepared   and  filed an extensive  complaint with the   registry integrity  , there are some 30  serious companies  act offences  which  the directors and their associates have committed.  Yet  in again a parallel move they are attempting to hold  Jozsef   for contempt of court  for allegedly  using the accounts  and the  documents which  have never been copied  or  been  outside his lawyers office  .

The entire process has been total bullying  and  abuse .

Those who invest in NZ companies  should not   be subjected  to  this lunacy, it destroys confidence in small business and shows that there is  a major flaw in the system which  allows  people to effectively steal shareholders  equity and use it for their own means.  The law is there  to  protect persons such as Jozsef and  ot should be affordable and expedient.

Samuel North   has  a deficit of  shareholders equity in the company yet drives around in a  late  model BMW  vehicle  owned by the company  while  the  only person to have invested in the company is being  hammered in the court

We request urgent intervention in this matter  where by the registrar   seeks to hold the  company and its directors  accountable to the act.

We need a system  which  prevents   this type of scenario from repeating .

In the interest of public  confidence in small business ,we hope that you can open a ministerial  enquiry into this matter  so that   this   cannot happen again.

I am happy to  supply the complaint to the  registrar and  the evidence  on your request .

Regards

Grace Haden