Taxman extends freezing orders over Honk group company

Inland Revenue has tightened its grip on properties owned by Auckland business partners Paul Webb and Andrew Tauber.

Freezing orders, first sought by IRD last month, were extended at Auckland High Court this morning.

The orders, which prevent the pair from disposing of the assets, extend to Honk Marine, which owns the Westpark Marina in Hobsonville – currently up for sale.

The IRD’s application for the extension was unopposed and Justice Sarah Katz granted the extension until further order of the court.

Outside the court, IRD’s lawyer Harry Ebersohn would not disclose details of which assets the freezing orders applied to other than to say it was “some property”.

The men’s Honk business empire includes Westpark Marina and transTasman commercial dredging company Coastal Dredging, which employs former rugby league star Brent Todd in Queensland.

Mr Webb burst into the public eye in 2006 as a ‘dragon’ on the Dragons’ Den TV show that saw young business hopefuls pitch ideas to successful entrepreneurs.

Promotional material for the show said Mr Webb set out to make millions in the 1990s through residential property development and cut-price freight and passenger airline City Jet, and was worth $10 million by 1999, when the venture collapsed. He was declared bankrupt the following year.

Mr Tauber is a former tax partner at Ernst & Young and faces more court time to approve plans to repay a spectacular debt of $95 million.

The IRD has been tight lipped about its five-year investigation of the pair’s tax affairs in relation to income suppression, wrongfully claiming deductions and tax avoidance.

The investigation saw it use its powers under section 16 of the Tax Act to search and seize documents from their homes, offices in Auckland’s High St and Westpark Marina and a boatshed in Orakei in March 2011.

Messrs Tauber and Webb brought an unsuccessful judicial review application against the lawfulness of the IRD’s search warrants at Auckland High Court, claiming the raid was intrusive.

in September, the Court of Appeal upheld  the High Court decision of Justice Geoff Venning and found the warrants to search, remove and retain information  were lawful and ordered the men to pay the IRD’s costs.

Mr Webb and his wife were recently fined $15,000 each for obstructing the taxman’s search of their home.

They were convicted in the Auckland District Court in December.

gbond@nbr.co.nz