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Former Rich List property developer Andrew Krukziener faces bankruptcy after a Court of Appeal ruling that he must repay the Hanover finance company more than $4 million.
The court yesterday upheld an earlier High Court decision that Mr Krukziener must repay the 2002 debt.
Hanover, owned by businessmen Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin, had sought the High Court summary judgment as a basis for bankrupting Mr Krukziener.
Those bankruptcy proceedings were put on hold in December, pending the outcome of the developer's appeal.
The $4 million loan relates to an agreement Mr Krukziener reached with Hanover - then called Elders Finance - in 2002 over a debt his companies could not repay.
The financier went into a joint venture with Mr Krukziener over properties at 13-15 and 17 Albert St in central Auckland.
The plan was that the finance company would get payment from a share of the profits from a development planned for 13-15 Albert St, and by receiving surplus income from the next-door building.
The outstanding loan, plus interest and any fees, would have to be paid if the Krukziener camp defaulted on anything.
In late 2005, the debtors were $21,000 behind in the rates on 17 Albert St, and Hanover called in the loan.
Mr Krukziener claimed he and former Hanover chief executive Kerry Finnigan had an arrangement that the loan would not be called up until six months after the joint venture was completed.
But the Appeal Court ruled yesterday that this was contradicted by the loan agreement, which Mr Krukziener signed.
"The evidence establishes that the default provisions were insisted on by Hanover and accepted by Mr Krukziener," the judges' decision said.
In 2001, Mr Krukziener defaulted on $21 million worth of bond payments for his landmark Metropolis apartment and hotel tower on Auckland's High St.
Last week, Hanover gained a High Court summary judgment against Winsun Developments, ordering it to repay $5 million it owes Hanover on the 153-apartment Winsun Heights building in Vincent St.
