A High Court judge has expressed doubts about the reliability of Mark Hotchin’s evidence during the week-long trial over one of his Auckland retail buildings.
Justice Pheroze Jagose also questioned why Kerry Finnigan, a former employee of Hotchin’s who helped put the deal together, wasn’t called to give evidence.
During the trial in the High Court at Auckland in late June, Hotchin’s OHL Limited argued the tenancy income was overstated when it purchased a unit within 2 Kitchener St for $3.5 million from PPD – a company directed by Manilal Hari.
The building was split into two units, with Hotchin, a former Hanover Finance co-owner, first buying nine floors of office space, then a year later purchasing the downstairs unit in 2018, which had three tenants.
