Whale Oil businesses liquidator warns customer database 'illegally used'

Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater. Photo / Doug Sherring

The liquidator of the business behind Cameron Slater's failed social media website Whale Oil has posted a notice on its site saying the customer database has been "illegally used".

Liquidator Corporate Restructuring posted the notice, telling of the issue.

"It is the liquidator's opinion that the director of Social Media Consultants Ltd, Juana Atkins or someone directed by her has illegally used the customer database for the benefit of another business entity," the notice says.

Juana Atkins is a creditor of the company and Slater's wife.

"This appears on the face of it to have been done for the purpose of misappropriating the company's goodwill and causing the company loss, therefore breaching the duties as a director to preserve the assets of the company for the benefit of creditors.

"The Whale Oil blog and everything associated with the blog remains the property of Social Media Consultants Limited, in liquidation," the notice says.

Victoria Toon of CRL is the liquidator of Social Media Consultants.

Her first report listed Juana Atkins as the sole shareholder and director of the business.

Creditors included Spark NZ, Vodafone, Voyager Internet, Colin Craig, Brian Henry's Chambers, Accident Compensation Corporation, 2Talk, Frog Rock Trust, Howard Taylor, Graeme Little, Inland Revenue, Legal Street and Juana Atkins.

In March, the Herald reported how a company that until recently owned the Whale Oil blog owes creditors at least $670,986.

That was based on Toon's report.

Slater owned Social Media Consultants until February when he transferred his shares to his wife Juana Atkins.

At the same time, a new company was set up, Wobh Ltd, with Atkins as the sole shareholder, on February 13.

"The value of the business lies in the brand "Whale Oil", the associated blog and the domain name [website address]," the liquidator said.

However, it was not clear at this point whether Social Media Consultants or the new Wobh Ltd own any intangibles.

They were not listed on Social Media Consultants financial records and were transferred to other companies prior to the liquidation (Atkins is also now the sole shareholder in a number of other companies set up by the couple, including Frog Rock Management and The Whale Meat Company).

Toon said at the time that she had been advised that the blog was being maintained by volunteers in the interim. It has more than 300 paid subscribers, she says.

The liquidator said in March she had already fielded several offers for the blog.

However, ownership and valuation issues have to be resolved before the site can be sold, she says.

Toon did not in March have enough information to say if creditors were likely to be paid.