Christchurch property developer Dave Henderson was bankrupted in the Christchurch High Court this afternoon.The two main creditors were Allied Farmers and FM Custodians.Mr Henderson's total indebtedness to all creditors - based on today's figures - was $1
Christchurch property developer Dave Henderson was bankrupted in the Christchurch High Court this afternoon.
The two main creditors were Allied Farmers and FM Custodians.
Mr Henderson's total indebtedness to all creditors - based on today's figures - was $142 million.
Mr Henderson’s bankruptcy ends months of court hearings when he obtained numerous adjournments.
But his run came to an end today when associate judge Rob Osborne declined to give him more time to put yet another 11th-hour proposal to creditors.
The creditor scheme he proposed today involved a payback of an estimated 1.5c to 2c in the dollar. He would make a $50,000 immediate payment and $10,000 payments each month for 10 years. There would be additional payments as he completed various property development ventures, according to his counsel, Austin Forbes QC.
The court was not told what the development proposals entailed. But Mr Forbes discounted a buy-back option on a property Mr Henderson had sold to the Christchurch City Council when it bailed him out temporarily by buying $17 million worth of properties in 2008. The option expired last week.
Judge Osborne said the repayment proposal was unlikely to succeed. Other creditors who had supported the Allied Farmers and FM Custodians bankruptcy petition in court today opposed the scheme and any adjournment. The scheme did not have the support of sufficient creditors and was “highly likely” to fail.
Judge Osborne said he discounted emails purporting to show that some creditors would reconsider their position depending on what Mr Henderson offered. Judge Osborne said this was merely a logical response to questions put forward my Mr Henderson to creditors but did not indicate support for the proposal. He was not prepared to give another adjournment for another scheme “yet to be proposed”.
He also questioned a proposal where the amount of indebtedness would reduce from $142 million to $127 million after creditors sold various assets they had security over. The judge said he had not been presented with any definite sales evidence.
Judge Osborne also refused to give a stay (suspension) of the bankruptcy order pending an application to the Appeal Court by Mr Henderson.
