Accountant has mail for Suzanne Paul's troubled venture

By ALAN PERROTT and RENEE KIRIONA

A one-time accountant for celebrity Suzanne Paul has a growing pile of unwanted mail he would like to hand to his former employer.

Allan Paul briefly handled the accounts for Stillmore Holdings, the parent company of Ms Paul's ambitious Rawaka venture, which has closed until further notice after just three months in operation.

Rawaka Village, a Maori-style restaurant and cabaret based in the old Fisherman's Wharf building at Northcote Point, was locked up yesterday.

The accountant's office is still listed as the physical address for Stillmore Holdings, despite Mr Paul, who is not related to Suzanne Paul, severing all ties with the company.

"I haven't had anything to do with them for a long time and I'm trying to find out where they are myself ... I'm getting a few things delivered to my office I would rather not have delivered."

The cellphone for Rawaka's manager was switched off yesterday and the answerphone message said the venue would not confirm any reservations until further notice.

Ms Paul has not responded to messages left for her. Last month, she revealed she had remortgaged a British property to pay Rawaka's debts and put her East Auckland mansion up for sale.

Ms Paul made light of her venture's financial position during an appearance on The Great Debate screened on TVOne on June 30. In a running gag throughout the show, she screwed up and tossed away false invoices passed to her by fellow judge Paul Holmes.

Genuine creditors spoken to by the Herald said they were keen to discuss the company's situation with the venue owners. Several builders and suppliers claimed Ms Paul and her fiance Duncan Wilson, a discharged bankrupt, owed them more than $110,000 for work and supplies.

But well-known performer Mika, whose dance company is contracted to deliver three shows a week at Rawaka, said Ms Paul had not mentioned any possibility of closing the venue.

"There was no talk about it going belly up. In fact Suzanne is keen to see us give regular performances despite this time of year [winter] being a bad time for tourism ventures." he said.

It was more likely that shows had been temporarily cancelled because his dance company had other commitments for the next few weeks, he said.

From July 17 to August 4 Mika and the group, consisting of 14 dancers, will be in Wellington shooting his new show Mika Live for Maori Television.

Mika said he knew nothing about complaints from creditors and claimed his dancers had received most of their pay.

Stillmore Holdings has an eight-year lease on the renovated 1886sq m site next to the Northcote Pt Wharf. The site was put up for sale by its owner, Auckland property developer Andrew Krukziener, last month.