Judgment reserved in Jones' $300,000 claim

Mark Bryers. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Mark Bryers' Northern Crest Investments claims Sir Bob Jones' property company cost it more than $400,000 in audit and legal costs by seizing company documents and refusing access to them as it prepared its annual Companies Office returns.

The claim was part of Northern Crest's evidence in a High Court summary judgment hearing at Wellington yesterday.

Robert Jones Holdings is seeking $300,000 in "loss of bargain" damages and related costs over Northern Crest's alleged abandonment of offices on level 12 of Qantas House in downtown Auckland part-way through the period of the lease last year.

By way of counter-claim or "set off", Northern Crest's lawyer Nathan Gedye told Associate Judge David Gendall that a representative of Robert Jones Holdings had last year removed Northern Crest documents from sister company Blue Chip Property Holdings' offices on level 20 of the same building.

Northern Crest says Robert Jones Holdings refused to give it access to the documents, which prevented it from filing its annual returns on time and generated more than $300,000 in extra audit fees and legal costs.

But Robert Jones Holdings' lawyer Damian Chesterman presented submissions which he said demonstrated the company had offered and subsequently provided access to the documents to Blue Chip's Neil Bell.

He said the documents were put in storage after being taken from level 20 as the floor was being readied for new tenants after Blue Chip left the space.

Northern Crest also claimed that its difficulties in meeting rent payments on its offices were exacerbated by Robert Jones Holdings' refusal to allow it to sublet a number of carparks.

Associate Judge Gendall observed that the lease agreement specifically disallowed any sublease of the carparks. He has reserved judgment.

Northern Crest Investments (formerly Blue Chip Financial Solutions) survived a liquidation bid by the Registrar of Companies three months ago.

Last month Bryers pleaded guilty to three charges related to the collapse of the Blue Chip group and has pleaded not guilty to 69 criminal charges.