A Napier businessman's hopes of financing his way out of debt with riches promised in an apparent scam has run out of time and he has been made bankrupt.
The order against Barry Barton-Ginger was made in the High Court in Napier yesterday.
An application made by the Southland Building Society, which was owed about $200,000, was granted.
At a previous hearing, amid claims of a new wealth from the UK supported by what the SBS lawyer suspected were scam emails, Mr Barton-Ginger had been given until this week to pay the debt.
The emails had promised Mr Barton-Ginger a bequest of $36 million, but it had been on hold pending his payment of what was purported to be a tax requirement of more than $28,000 in the UK.