Eric Watson’s brother and friend fail to get courts to protect their assets

Brother and friend of embattled businessman, Eric Watson, lose court cases. Photo / NZME

Eric Watson’s brother and friend are struggling to distance themselves from Sir Owen Glenn, who suspects they’re squirreling away money Watson owes him.

Watson, an ex-pat Kiwi businessman, and Glenn have been embroiled in high-profile court cases for years, after their business relations soured.

A court in the United Kingdom in 2018 ruled Watson deceived Glenn’s company, Kea Investments, and ordered him to pay Kea £43.5 million ($NZ83.2 million).

Glenn has since been on a mission to identify Watson’s assets to get the money owed to him.

Between October 2018 and January 2020, Kea sent letters to Watson’s friend, Timothy Connell, because it believed he was stashing away Watson’s money.

This prompted Connell and Watson’s brother (Richard Watson), who own dairy companies that do business with each other in the United States, to try to protect their assets via district courts in Florida and Georgia.

But their attempts to get the courts to prevent Kea from making claims against their US assets were unsuccessful.

They appealed the rulings, but the US Court of Appeals has just backed the decisions of the lower courts.

So, the court is effectively preventing Connell and his company, Hart Dairy Creamery Corporation, and Richard Watson and his company, Hart Agriculture Corporation, from creating a roadblock to prevent Kea from potentially pursuing them in a bid to get to Eric Watson.

The details

The opinion, from a panel of appeal court judges, noted Kea contacted Connell (via his New Zealand-based lawyer) because he had received money from a Panamanian company connected to Eric Watson.

The opinion explained, “Kea said that, based on Eric’s prior actions, it thought that he was trying to avoid satisfying the judgment by squirreling away his money with his friends and family.”

The opinion said Kea believed there was “no explanation of how or on what terms” Connell had become the beneficial owner of “a very substantial quantity” of Eric Watson’s shell company.

Richard Watson, who owned a 4000-acre dairy farm in Georgia, was in the picture because Connell’s company was the exclusive buyer of raw milk from his company.

The appeal court judges concluded, they disagreed with the case Richard Watson and Connell made, that the district courts in Florida and Georgia could exercise jurisdiction over Kea.

“Kea was not engaged in business in Florida. Kea sent three letters to a lawyer in New Zealand asking for information about Connell’s and Hart Dairy’s assets and if they were traceable to Eric,” the opinion said.

“But Connell’s complaint is silent as to whether Kea has any agents or offices in Florida, has any revenue from Florida, or even has a license to do business in Florida.”

The opinion said Kea’s connection to Georgia was “even more attenuated”.

“Kea owns no property in Georgia, has no agents or offices in Georgia, and solicits no business from Georgians,” it said.