DataSouth companies liquidated
Three companies owned by Gavin Bennett liquidated; fourth being investigated by Serious Fraud Office.
Two of the three NZ-registered companies associated with IT services company DataSouth have been placed in liquidation.
A third, DataSouth Finance is now subject to a Serious Fraud Office investigation, revealed by the agency late Friday. The investigation relates to lease deals with DataSouth clients, bankrolled by South Canterbury Finance.
DataSouth - a Microsoft Partner Awards 2010 winner - was founded in 1993 in Christchurch (where at the time of the quake there were 50 staff), and grew to open offices in Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne and Sydney.
The three companies that have been placed in liquidation - DataSouth and DataSouth Business Solutions.
HFK has been appointed liquidator. Its first report is due April 6.
Mr Bennett, who devides his time between Sydney and Christchurch, declined immediate comment.
On Twitter, he has changed his strapline to "Former Managing Director of Datasouth."
As the liquidation came into effect, Mr Bennett spoke to NBR, but declined immediate comment. He did post a tweet (above).
Datasouth's NZ and Australian web pages were both offline Saturday morning.
According to a Reseller News report, DataSouth clients are being told to contact Computer Concepts.
Mr Bennett recently told NBR that his company's Burnside premises suffered only superficial damage in the February 22 Christchurch quake. It was workiing with a number of key clients who faced large insurance claims.
Clients listed on a Google cached version of DataSouth's NZ website include Minter Ellison, Canterbury Development Corporation and Presbyterian Support - the latter an organisation caught up in the Allan Hubbard, South Canterbury Finance imbroglio.
Immediately after the quake, Mr Bennett said he had been in touch with more than 100 DataSouth clients.
Datasouth's NZ and Australian web pages were both offline Saturday morning.
NBR staff
Sat, 02 Apr 2011
Sat, 02 Apr 2011
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DataSouth companies liquidated
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