The liquidators said they had nevertheless served demand letters on Culham seeking recovery of the amount alleged to have been misappropriated, and would “pursue all available legal remedies”.
Obelisk’s sole shareholder is listed as Kara Culham, who shares an address with Steven Culham in Auckland’s Swanson, according to the Companies Office.
Obelisk is said to have operated a fabrication plant in Ruakākā and other premises in Henderson.
The liquidators’ report said limited recoveries had been made to date, with distributions made to secured creditor BNZ ($1m), and to staff owed wages ($0.3m).
The report said $9m in creditors’ claims remained outstanding. BNZ is still owed $4.5m, Kiwibank $0.3m, employees $0.2m, Inland Revenue $1.8m and unsecured creditors $2.5m.
Those at the bottom of the creditors’ pecking order were warned to brace for bad news.
“Based on the realisations to date and extent of the company’s secured and preferential creditors, we do not anticipate there to be any funds available for distribution to the unsecured creditors of the company,” the liquidators’ report said.
Secured creditor United Steel appointed receivers Steven Khov and Kieran Jones as receivers of Obelisk in parallel with the liquidation. That receivership ended in September with United Steel repaid the $278,901 it was owed, and the administration also clearing $79,260 owed to secured creditor Fletcher Steel.
Kiwibank was paid $425,168 by the receivership to part-settle its loans.
Liquidators said Obelisk was owed $2.2m by a related company, Middle Finger Investments (MFI), which owned the company’s business premises in Ruakākā.
MFI also has Steven Culham as a sole director.
The property has a rateable valuation of $5.3m, but is subject to a mortgage by BNZ. Liquidators for Obelisk said it was going to a mortgagee sale and “no funds are expected to be available to satisfy the company’s debt or any other unsecured creditors”.
The only other major remaining Obelisk asset to be realised was a gantry crane. Liquidators said they had received an offer to buy the crane, and this had been accepted.
Obelisk’s website, before it went offline, said it provided cranes for hire, fabricated structural steel, and offered welding and seismic strengthening services. It also explained its name.
“An obelisk represents the enormous power that hides behind the daily decisions made by everyone involved in a team. It also signifies the need for every person to dedicate their efforts to the advancement of a single goal – to ultimately leave behind an achievement that will continue to stand in both metaphorical and literal terms,” the company said.
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter and ICIJ member covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting for business newspapers and national magazines.
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