IRD warns tycoon - pay $3.5m or face bankruptcy

David Henderson. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Property tycoon David Stewart Henderson - the man involved in a celebrity drug ring in 2005 - is being threatened with bankruptcy.

He confirmed Inland Revenue had lodged a bankruptcy application in the High Court at Auckland.

A public notice printed in the NZ Herald this week shows the amount the IRD claim Henderson owes is more than $3.5 million.

But the unmarried father of four sons is staying optimistic.

"You can't be pessimistic about these things. You've just got to look for opportunities. A lot of things happen in recessions and people become better business people because they learn what it's like not to have the money that you can borrow to continually save yourself."

His lawyer, Daniel Grove, is talking to the government department with hopes of resolving the application. The IRD would not "discuss the tax affairs of individual taxpayers". A statement of claim is still to be filed in the High Court with detailed information about why Henderson owes so much.

"We're going to have talks to the IRD and see if we can come to some form of resolution," said Henderson. "We've had this issue around for some time and, obviously, they want to get it concluded in some way.

"I've never been bankrupted in my life and, obviously, I'm going to do what I can to stop myself being bankrupted."

On face value, Henderson is still living the high life in his $10million, 8th floor apartment above the Hilton Hotel on Princes Wharf with sweeping views of the Waitemata Harbour.

The property developer has had his Shed 21 waterfront pad - with five bedrooms, five bathrooms and five living areas, complete with outdoor swimming pool and 10 car parks covering 0.1ha - on the market since 2007.

"No one's come rushing through the door with a huge cheque or anything," he said. "Yes, I've had people look at it. I've got pretty close to selling it."

He is also trying to sell his 2006 green Bentley Continental Flying Spur and 2006 black Aston Martin Vanquish Coupe, both bought on finance.

"Those cars, I've had them for years, and if I could sell them I'd sell them but as you realise the car market isn't particularly strong," he said.

The businessman, who in 2005 pleaded guilty for his part in a celebrity drug ring, said yesterday the property industry was "very risky" and the current financial instability didn't help.

"I don't think you'd find many property developers around Auckland that aren't in a similar situation to myself. You're only really as good as your last deal and if it's not successful you've got to find something that is successful.

"Obviously with the collapse of every finance company, raising money is not particularly easy but this is just part and parcel of the property business.

"You have good years, you have bad years and these are the years that you probably learn more in a recession, than what you do in good times. One thing, if you do go broke you don't lose the ability to start again."

It's unclear how the keen cook, who started his working life as an apprentice electrician before buying his first home in Grey Lynn at the age of 19, has got in this position and whether he will have to start again.

"I've never had millions in the bank. People in my position, it's normally what you call paper money. It's all to do with what the value of your assets are."

Asked how much his assets were worth, he said, "That depends who values them."

Henderson is no stranger to headlines. The Herald on Sunday last week reported contractors who worked on the luxury Princes Wharf complex saying parts were leaking and cosmetic repairs would not fix serious faults, including leaky cladding, leaky decks and corrosion.

Henderson rejects the claims.

"The apartment that I live in doesn't leak. Neither does the Hilton. But I do know they do maintenance work regularly on the buildings on Princes Wharf. They're now 10 years old. You'd expect that you'd do resealing of windows, painting and replacing tiles on decks and things like that. That's part and parcel keeping a building up to scratch."

In 2005 Henderson was given a suspended sentence for attempting to buy cocaine from dealer-to-the-stars John Waterworth. Phone taps nabbed a dozen A-listers, including sports star Marc Ellis and Brent Todd.