Authorities have won High Court access to data from a police-seized laptop belonging to Christchurch businessman David Henderson, who is suspected of running a business while bankrupt.
The Herald revealed in January that the Official Assignee - the Crown authority that manages bankrupts - was opposing Henderson's automatic release from bankruptcy.
This means Henderson would remain an undischarged bankrupt until his affairs had been examined in the High Court, which is due to begin on June 9.
Last month the OA went before Associate Judge Rob Osborne in Christchurch, seeking orders for it to get copies of an external hard drive or flash drives containing electronic data from a laptop belonging to Henderson.
This laptop was recovered from the earthquake-damaged Christchurch central business district by the liquidator of a Henderson-related company after the police executed a search warrant.
The liquidator made copies of emails and documents and put them on the flash drives now sought by the OA, which suspects Henderson has "entered into, carried on, or taken part in the management of businesses during his bankruptcy".