The Commerce Commission has taken court action over the stalled Wings and Wheels over Waikato event.
The air and car show was to have been held at Hamilton's international airport this weekend but has been postponed indefinitely, creating uncertainty for sponsors and ticket holders who have invested heavily
in the event.
The commission said it had a court order freezing the assets of Hawker Holding, airshow.co.nz Media Ltd, airshow.co.nz Ltd and the event organiser, Kenneth James Ross.
The matter will go to a hearing in the High Court at Auckland on March 12.
After the show's cancellation the commission grew concerned that ticket holders, sponsors and exhibitors would not get refunds.
"The court order protects identifiable funds paid to Mr Ross and the associated companies by ticket holders, sponsors and exhibitors, until the court is asked to reconsider this matter," the commission said.
Mr Ross left Hamilton last Wednesday, and has gone to ground in Auckland, the Waikato Times reported yesterday.
The newspaper said he had sent out a flyer to ticket holders promising that the show would go ahead and saying their money was safe.
Ticket holders received the four-page flyer in the mail on Wednesday.
It was headed "Moving forward ... together" and had a large picture of Uncle Sam on the front, saying "team airshow needs your support".
It advised ticket holders to visit the air show's website for rescheduled dates. No new dates were on the site yesterday.
The Herald understands sponsors have invested more than $250,000 and fans have spent more than $500,000 on tickets for the event.
The Good Water Company paid $25,000 for the right to sell water at the event.
John Pringle, an event subcontractor, said he had spoken to Mr Ross in Auckland on February 27 and had been given assurances that ticket holders' money was in a trust account.
- NZPA
