KEY POINTS:
So much for the Porsche. Rod Petricevic will only be allowed to own a car worth a maximum of $5000 and will need permission to leave the country if he's adjudicated bankrupt.
Bridgecorp's receivers confirmed yesterday that they have commenced bankruptcy proceedings against the founder of the failed
finance company.
This follows his failure to come up with $576,100 by Tuesday night, as ordered by the High Court. From here, the bankruptcy of the man who earned $4 million in the three years prior to Bridgecorp's collapse last July may come swiftly.
After the receivers file their application for adjudication, the court serves Petricevic with a bankruptcy notice. He then has 10 working days to either comply, or convince the court he has a cross claim against the receivers. If he doesn't do either, the court can adjudicate him bankrupt.
Last month the receivers gained a summary judgment against the former financier, ordering him to repay the $576,100 which Bridgecorp paid Inland Revenue in September 2006 to cover his personal tax bill. He was also ordered to pay interest, bringing the total owed to $661,333.
Last week Petricevic sought a stay of execution stopping the receivers from pursuing bankruptcy while he appeals the summary judgment. Justice John Priestley awarded him the stay, as long as he deposited $576,100 in a High Court trust account by 5pm on Tuesday.
That deadline expired with no word from Petricevic or his lawyers, and no sign of the funds.
Given that the receivers have gained the summary judgment, and have also used a High Court order to have bailiffs search Petricevic's house for assets that could help repay the debt - with no result - it is hard to see how the former Bridgecorp boss will fend off bankruptcy. He has said he plans to appeal the summary judgment. However he has also told the court that he is insolvent.
If he is made bankrupt, the Official Assignee will control all his property except basic household items, the necessary tools of his trade, and a car worth a maximum $5000.
It would be a far cry from the $120,000 Porsche 911 Petricevic has been seen driving around Auckland in. Ownership of the car was transferred from Petricevic to his family trust three days after Bridgecorp collapsed.
CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET
If Rod Petricevic is made bankrupt, for three years he would be banned from:
* Being a company director.
* Managing a business without consent.
* Being employed by a relative without consent.
* Leaving New Zealand, temporarily or permanently, without consent.
* Getting credit for more than $1000 without declaring he's a bankrupt.
* The Official Assignee could sell his assets and give proceeds to creditors.
* The bank would have to notify the Official Assignee of all his accounts.
* The bankruptcy would stay on his credit record for seven years.
