Bankrupt missionary a 'commercial hazard'

Judge Jeremy Doogue. Photo / Derek Flynn

A former property developer and missionary who a judge said is a "genuine commercial hazard" will remain bankrupt until next year.

Philip Christopher Parker, formerly a property developer, declared himself bankrupt in 2011 and recorded his occupation at the time as a missionary.

He was due to be automatically released from bankruptcy three years' later in February 2014 but a week before this was to happen, the Official Assignee objected to it.

Parker then made a bid last May for discharge and appeared in front of Associate Judge Jeremy Doogue in the High Court at Auckland where his financial affairs were examined.

The Official Assignee - which manages personal insolvencies - alleged in court that despite claims from Parker that his only assets in 2010 were his clothes and a bible, he had personally guaranteed his parents' $300,000 debt.

"This is commercially reprehensible behaviour...it is submitted that the giving of Mr Parker's guarantee in these circumstances was reckless and was done with complete indifference to his ability to meet the debt," the OA alleged.

The OA also said that Parker had attempted to solicit funds for a Ukranian farming business just days before putting himself into bankruptcy.

Associate Judge Doogue, in his recently released decision, said Parker had been "evasive and belligerent" during the examination.

"...It has to be recognised that Mr Parker continues to present a risk stemming from the fact that he has a poor track record as a businessman. That is paired with vaulting ambitions of the kind that led him into the [Ukrainian] venture. These two elements in conjunction mean that he constitutes a genuine commercial hazard, " the judge said.

The judge extended Parker's bankruptcy until February 2017.