Tua goes to court over $7.5m beach property

Martin Pugh (left) and Kevin Barry, Tua's managers when the property deal was made, arrive at court yesterday. Picture / Kenny Rodger

When David Tua bought a $7.5 million property at Pakiri he dreamed of one day retiring there, growing taro and watching his children play.

However, those dreams have been on hold because of a dispute with his former managers, Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh, over who owns the land.

In the High Court at Auckland yesterday, the heavyweight boxer said he always believed the property was his and his alone.

But Mr Barry and Mr Pugh say they own part of the beachside property because they have 50 per cent ownership in the company which bought it.

The court heard how Tua relied on the two men for many of his legal and financial dealings so he could concentrate on his fighting.

In May 1999, Mr Barry introduced Tua to Mr Pugh.

"Kevin said Marty was a smart businessman and that he would be the ideal guy to manage my finances and make investments for me," Tua said.

"I trusted Kevin. He really wanted Marty on board."

An exclusive management agreement was drawn up between the three men. Tua said he signed the agreement despite understanding little about it except that it contained a plan for forming a company called Tuaman Inc.

"I trusted Kevin after working with him for seven years. He thought it was the right thing to do for my career, so I did it. I signed the thing exactly as they put it in front of me."

In 2001, after Tua came home from a fight in Las Vegas, Mr Pugh took him to see the Pakiri property.

"We walked over the ... land for a couple of hours. I thought it was heaven. It reminded me of home in Samoa. I could see my kids running around on the beach. Right away I wanted to buy it."

Tua said it was on the drive home that day that he told Mr Pugh he wanted to buy the land. "I said to him, 'Man, I want to buy that property'. I wanted it for myself and my family. It was a place to retire to."

Tua said that during a second visit to the property, Mr Pugh suggested buying the land through the company to protect himself from being sued and for tax purposes.

"The deal was only to be put through the company. He [Marty] said nothing about the deal being switched from my deal to the company's own deal.

"Marty never said that he was buying the Pakiri property with me. There was never a 'me and you will buy it' or a 'we will buy it'. The conversation was about the land being bought for me."

Tua said Mr Pugh completed the deal, including finance, for him.

It was only in July 2003 that Tua discovered there were problems with the way Tuaman's money was being handled and an issue about ownership of the property.

The company's accountant, Jennie Grant, told him Mr Pugh had been trying that year to sell Pakiri.

At a further meeting, Tua learned that Mr Pugh had an interest in the land because he had put up his house as a guarantee.

Mr Pugh and Mr Barry contend that Tua knew Pakiri was owned by all three of them under Tuaman Inc.

The civil case, before Justice Hugh Williams, continues today.

 

THE CASE

David Tua and his former managers, Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh, are arguing over the ownership of a 50ha block of coastal land at Pakiri.

The boxer says the land was bought for him alone and the first he knew his managers claimed to own a proportion of it was in July 2003 just before he sacked them.

Tua says any share his managers have is held in "express trust" for him. Pugh and Barry argue that Tua always knew it was owned by Tuaman Inc, which all three own.

The land was bought for $7.5m in 2001. Pugh has said he had a buyer in 2003 for $15m.

Tua's next boxing fight is against American Talmage Griffis in Auckland on March 31.