Failed developer $2m short after IRD audit

Tribeca Homes collapsed last May, leaving dozens of Auckland home-builders in the lurch and unsecured creditors, like Nigel Armstrong of ROK Group, owed $2.14m. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

Liquidators of a failed housing developer says the scale of its collapse is twice as large as previous indicated after an Inland Revenue audit found millions in taxes had gone unpaid.

Tribeca Homes collapsed last May, leaving dozens of Auckland home-builders in the lurch and unsecured creditors owed $2.14m.

The latest report by liquidators Grant Thornton said Inland Revenue had recently filed a substantial claim and were weighing further action.

"Inland Revenue have now completed their audit and have advised that core debt relating to outstanding GST has been assessed at $1,838,015. Additional penalties are also being considered," the report said.

The Herald broke news of troubles at Tribeca last January amid complaints of half-built homes being left to rot, and the company admitted it was unable to honour at least 44 home-build contracts worth $10m.

The company was directed by accountant Mark Richards but 90 per cent owned by the Mani family, and twice-bankrupted Ritesh Mani played a senior role at Tribeca driving sales.

At the time Richards defended his employee: "I'm not saying he's a saint, but the one thing the boy could do was sell".

Mani admitted to the Herald he had arranged for himself and his sales staff to attend a pep talk by Jordan Belfort, the convicted fraudster popularly known as The Wolf of Wall Street.

Earlier liquidators reports said the bulk of Tribeca's assets were loans and advances to related parties, many of which are also in liquidiation.

In the lead-up to the company's collapse many of the firms' clients told the Herald of building delays of as much as two years, leading to strained marriages and spiraling costs.