Habitat Hotels took Hamilton Movers to court to recoup $50k mistaken payment

A $70,000 payment meant for a third party ended up in the account of a Hamilton Moving company who refused to pay the money back. Photo / 123RF

A moving company that found a surprise $70,000 in its account after an accidental bank transfer has finally returned all of the money - plus a little bit extra.

Luxury hotel brand Habit Hotels mistakenly transferred $70,000 into Hamilton Movers’ account instead of a third party earlier this year.

While the moving company paid back some $19,000 of that accidental transfer it said it would only repay the remaining $50,000 through official channels.

However, when the Bank of New Zealand requested those funds through formal channels Hamilton Movers refused to refund the money.

Habitat Hotels, which owns franchises like Hotel DeBrett and Ohtel Boutique Hotels, took the matter to the High Court in Auckland last week to obtain an ancillary order to locate the funds as they were concerned Hamilton Movers had dissipated the money.

From there the company intended to lodge a freezing order on the funds once they had been located so they couldn’t be spent or dispersed.

In submissions to the court, Habitat Hotels said while it wasn’t the other company’s fault for mistakenly receiving the money, they were now acting dishonestly by refusing to repay it.

“The applicant’s particular concern is that, in the period in which the second respondent has prevaricated (and used an excuse about needing to go through official channels), it may well have dissipated the remainder of the funds.”

Hamilton Movers’ director Gourav Sharma didn’t respond to requests for comment from NZME earlier this week when the court judgement was made public.

However, Habitat Hotels’ lawyer Jacque Lethbridge said today the money had been fully repaid and Hamilton Movers had made a “meaningful” contribution towards the hotel chain’s legal costs in pursuing their money.

“The parties to the proceeding have sought that the proceeding be discontinued and all orders are discharged,” the statement reads.

“Both parties now consider the matter to be at an end.”

A manager at Hamilton Movers told NZME they would not be commenting beyond the prepared joint statement made by Habitat Hotels’ counsel.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.