Former estate agent and grocer Aaron Drever declared bankrupt over million-dollar debts

Former West Auckland real estate agent Aaron Drever who once claimed to be earning $1 million a year has been declared bankrupt in the High Court. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Former real estate agent and businessman Aaron Drever has been declared bankrupt in the High Court at Auckland.

Drever, who was found personally liable for nearly half-a-million-dollars in debt after failing to restart the Nosh supermarket brand, was declared bankrupt over debts from failed supermarket Grocer's Market, which replaced a Mt Eden Nosh store in 2017 following the chain's collapse.

In August last year, the High Court ruled Drever was liable for debt from Grocer's Market after poultry company Tegel Foods applied to have Grocer's Market put into liquidation for money owed from unpaid goods.

Tegel Foods applied for Drever to be declared bankrupt. Drever applied to have this quashed, but this failed and the matter returned to the High Court.

Drever owes more than $2 million across three companies - Black Mountain Property Ltd, Carl Drever's Perfection Meats Ltd and TGM Trading Ltd, according to the bankruptcy judgment.

His lawyer Natalie Tabb told the court that Drever had developed a plan to pay back between 10 and 20 cents in every dollar of debt owed.

But Associate Judge Roger Bell said he was concerned by the plan, and that Drever was a risk to the commercial community.

"Mr Drever should not have the opportunity to put a proposal to his creditors because any such proposal is unlikely to pass the scrutiny of the court," Bell said in his ruling.

"It is quite clear he has a problem dealing with credit."

Drever bought Grocer's Market in August 2017 after upmarket supermarket chain Nosh went into receivership and collapsed around a month earlier.

Drever had no comment to make about bankruptcy when contacted by the Herald.

The failure of Nosh and subsequently Grocer's Market was "unfortunate", he said.

Drever had no comment to make when asked about future business endeavours.

Drever, a former West Auckland real estate agent who once claimed to be earning $1m each year, faces a criminal charge of obtaining nearly $500,000 by deception for his role in the sale of Avondale Bowling Club land.