Roy Bishop - a twice-convicted fraudster, twice-bankrupted businessman - has seen another company he was connected with fail.
Roy Bishop - a twice-convicted fraudster, twice-bankrupted businessman - has seen another company he was connected with fail.
Notorious businessman Roy Bishop’s latest venture has again failed, with recruitment firm RLITS Contracting entering liquidation owing $8.4m.
Bishop has two convictions for fraud, and two bankruptcies, and in August he and his brother Spencer were banned from directing or managing a business for seven years following criticism from theHigh Court bench over Roy’s management of another troubled recruitment firm directed by his brother.
RLITS’ sole director is Raymond Bishop - Roy and Spencer’s father - and its registered offices were at Hamilton law firm iCLAW. That firm also acted for the collapsed - and separate - Du Val Group.
RLITS described itself as a construction company that employed 120 staff, typically recruiting from overseas.
Herald interviews with former RLITS staff over the past week indicate Roy ran the company, including conducting job interviews and managing finances, while director Raymond was absent from the rented $6m home in Orakei the company used as an office.
Questions to Roy were answered via email. He said he had left the country and expressed an apology of sorts.
“I’m now in the Middle East working for a drilling firm and have no intentions to do any business in New Zealand. I’m sorry to the people I have hurt or put stress on in this extremely unfortunate matter,” he said.
Official documents note he has legally changed his name to Raymond Gillingham David Bishop, and is also known to use the aliases Raymond Vincent Bishop, and Raymond Vincent Gillingham.
Northland-based Raymond, the father and sole director of RLITS, could not be reached for comment.
This week Spencer, who is also said to have worked for RLITS, distanced himself himself from his brother.
“Ultimately the only person that can give you information on RLITS Contracting is Roy,” he told the Herald.
“I have never had any financial or directorship control. I will not be blamed for what someone else has done.”
Roy chalked the collapse of RLITS down to “the current economic climate” which had decimated the construction sector.
Liquidator the Official Assignee said in its first report into RLITS Contracting that the company had collapsed over a “failure to pay taxes”.
A listing of liabilities sees Inland Revenue owed $4.2m, employees $0.76m and unsecured creditors - mostly comprised of more than 50 immigrant contractors - owed a further $3.4m.
The only company assets listed are $3.4m in debtors and overdrawn company accounts.
Unsecured creditors are advised to expect “0 cents in $”.
Unusually for a business of this size, the Official Assignee was unable to find any bank accounts held by the company.
“It has been confirmed that no bank account was held in the name of the company,” the report said.
The Official Assignee said the company and its director - Raymond Bishop - had not responded to requests for information or a meeting, and they had taken note of Raymond’s sons.
The report said it had “considered the alleged involvement in the management of the company by banned directors Spencer Bishop and Roy Bishop”.
Spencer had directed another recruiting company, BF7 Trading, which also collapsed and entered liquidation in September 2021 - just months after RLITS Contracting was incorporated. Roy was the original director, with Spencer taking over directing BF7 in March 2017.
In August both Roy and Spencer were banned by the Registrar of Companies from directing or managing businesses for seven years. While a spokesperson for the Registrar did not provide details on what underpinned these orders, the section of the Act employed relates to mismanagement of a failed company.
Associate Judge Roger Bell raised his eyebrows at the involvement of undischarged bankrupt Roy Bishop in a company the IRD liquidated over unpaid taxes. Photo / Ross Setford
The banning order came three years after Associate Judge Roger Bell raised his judicial eyebrow at Roy’s involvement in BF7 in the Auckland High Court.
In a September 2021 ruling putting BF7 into liquidation at the request of the Inland Revenue Department, Associate Judge Bell noted Roy’s involvement in BF7 as a “senior personnel consultant” and also his two previous bankruptcies - including in 2019 which saw him barred at the time from managing or directing businesses.
Roy had been granted consent from the Official Assignee to work for BF7, but Associate Judge Bell was critical and noted Roy was the sole provider of evidence for BF7 in the proceeding and appeared to be the one providing instruction to the company’s counsel.
“[Roy] Bishop’s involvement in the company raises questions whether he may be a de facto director of the company and whether his role in the company amounts to management, something outside the scope of the Official Assignee’s consent.
At the least, his employment by a small closely-held company controlled by a relative, his status as an undischarged bankrupt and the company’s ongoing failures to pay taxes are an unhappy combination,” Associate Judge Bell said.
Roy said he was aware of restrictions imposed by his bankruptcy “and am committed to complying with all legal requirements”.
Liquidators of the BF7 group - seeking to make good on $2.2m in liabilities - have since filed proceedings against Raymond and Spencer, respectively BF7’s shareholder and director, over transfers from the company to Roy being reduced to zero just prior to its collapse and with the loan sum of $351,719 being assigned to the Bishop Family Trust.
One former RLITS staff member told the Herald the company was jarring to work for compared to other corporate jobs they’d had.
“Everything was so weird at this workplace. Nothing was formal, and it was chaotic. Multiple people were doing the same thing when Roy wanted something done,” they said.
After promises to sponsor a work visa and resolve contract issues went unanswered, the former staff member approached the company’s outsourced accountant in July seeking assurances the firm was solvent.
“Are you still providing accounting services for RLITS?” they asked.
The accountant replied: “If I get a payment.”
Regarding his past littered with criminal convictions, bankruptcies and insolvencies, Roy said: “I acknowledge my past and take responsibility for previous mistakes. These experiences have been significant learning moments”.
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.
