Du Val entity funnelled $6.7m to eight affiliates amid $4.6m tax debt

A Du Val Group entity that owes Inland Revenue $4.6 million in unpaid taxes funnelled almost $6.7m of loans into eight related parties before appointing liquidators in 2023, the Herald can reveal.

The prospect of those loans being recovered to satisfy the IRD debt is now complicated by the statutory management of the wider Du Val group and its founders, Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke.

The loans were issued by a limited partnership called Tui Terraces, which had completed a residential property development in 2021, after which a resolution was made to terminate the partnership in October 2023.

Liquidators from accounting firm BDO were appointed to Tui Terraces the same month and previous reports on the process stated that the debt owed to IRD was expected to be taken care of from the related party loans scheduled to be repaid in December 2024 and December 2025.

However, in their latest report issued before Christmas, Tui Terraces’ liquidators Iain Shephard and Jessica Kellow of BDO acknowledged the loan recovery was now impacted by Du Val’s statutory management.

“We await further information from the Statutory Managers as to the assets and liabilities of the various debtors,” the BDO liquidators said.

Tui Terraces LP is not included in the Du Val statutory management or receivership circle but it does remain linked because of the funding flows.

Tui’s liquidators from BDO have so far not responded to Herald enquiries but Du Val statutory manager John Fisk of PwC did shed some light on where the money went.

Fisk told the Herald that the Tui loans were made to eight Du Val entities and were all unsecured, meaning they are lower down the pecking order of those owed money from the Auckland-based property developer, estimated to have liabilities of about $250m.

Fisk said the loans were made to the following entities:

Du Val Construction $906,686

Du Val Management $2,926,465

Hillside Crossing $1,145,113

Earlsworth $142,407

Sunnyvale Terraces $8165

Trans-Tasman Pacific LP $159,424

Edmonton Rd LP $1,334,238

Hilltop LP $74,571

According to the latest Tui Terraces liquidation report, the IRD has submitted a preferential creditor claim for $4.06m and an unsecured creditor claim for $506,189. That suggests penalties are being applied to the debt.

BDO’s Shephard and Jessica Kellow said in their December report they “continue to review the actions of management, directors, officers and advisers of the Limited Partnership and any potential claim against them”.

“The Liquidators will consider further actions subsequent to additional information regarding the Limited Partnership’s affairs that comes to the Liquidators’ attention. Further actions will be subject to the availability of funding and an assessment of the benefits of pursuing recoveries.”

PwC’s Fisk, with Stephen White and Lara Bennett, were appointed statutory managers of about 70 Du Val entities in August, 2024. That appointment replaced interim receivership after the Financial Markets Authority obtained a High Court order on August 2.

Du Val Group includes 46 subsidiaries, and 20 special purpose vehicle limited partnerships.

There are up to 150 investors, home buyers and commercial lenders affected.

Tui Terraces does not appear to be part of statutory management.

Its general partner — Du Val GP 2 Limited — was deregistered from the Companies Office on June 20 last year, six weeks before the FMA swooped on Du Val Group and the Clarkes.