Man accused of racking up $350,000 in unpaid bills loses suppression fight

Matthew John Young battled for nearly three years to keep his name suppressed. File photo

A Hamilton man is alleged to have racked up bills of $350,000 in the Waikato and Auckland for unpaid rent, telephone and power, as well as unpaid bills for work carried out at bars he worked with.

The Herald can reveal Matthew John Young's name. He battled for nearly three years to keep it suppressed, taking multiple applications and appeals through the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, before filing an application in the Supreme Court.

Young, 44, has a trial pending in April on 33 fraud, theft and bankruptcy charges relating to 16 victims between 2011 and 2014 stretching from the Waikato up to Auckland totalling about $350,000.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of dishonestly using a document, carrying on a business fraudulently, managing a company while being a bankrupt, causing loss by deception, obtaining by deception and using an altered document with intent to deceive.

Young, a three-time bankrupt, is not allowed to operate, manage or be a director of a business.

However, it is alleged he continued to manage or be a director of companies.

He is accused of carrying out work at businesses he was involved with and not paying bills, causing big losses to the complainants. The victims include Hamilton bar Shine, and Deco Bar, which are owned by the same owners, and Liquorland. Shine and Deco bars eventually shut down.

He is also accused of not paying bills or rent at various Hamilton properties or bills to Genesis Energy, Orcon and Telecom.

Most of his victims are Hamilton-based, but there's at least one victim from Auckland for alleged offending against whom he faces three fraud charges

Other alleged offending relates to him not paying bills - including rent, phone and power - for houses he lived in.

In the Court of Appeal's name suppression decision from August last year - dismissing special leave to appeal against the earlier High Court refusal - Justice Clifford said Young submitted that publishing his name would "likely cause him extreme hardship and endanger his safety given various medical conditions from which he suffered".

However, Justice Clifford said "we do not see how issues relating to the presumption of innocence, and its relevance in name suppression decisions, are raised in Young's case. The conclusions that have been reached in the lower courts are essentially factual ones, relating to an assessment of the significance of medical evidence provided by Young and the application of 'extreme hardship' and 'endangering the safety' tests."

The matter then landed in the Supreme Court, but Justice William Young agreed with Justice Clifford, stating he was "not persuaded that there is sufficient merit in the appeal to that court or the proposed appeal to this court to warrant the making of a further order suppressing publication of the applicant's name".

The charges were laid by the Waikato Corporate Fraud Squad and when contacted Detective Simon Eckersley said he could not comment on the matters that were before the court.