David Mack did not reveal to them he was an undischarged bankrupt and banned company director and had not sought permission of the office of the Official Assignee to resume work on his own account, as he is obliged to by law.
And following Chronicle inquiries, the Official Assignee in Auckland has confirmed his office will investigate Mr Mack's business dealings in Wanganui.
Mr Mack, who fronts David Mack and Associates, is an undischarged bankrupt and banned from holding a company directorship or managerial role until October next year.
The bans were imposed by the Ministry of Economic Development's insolvency and trustee service and are effective from October 11, 2005 to October 11, 2008.
Three companies of which Mr Mack was the managing director and/or chief executive went into liquidation between 2003 and 2005. They were marketing and restaurant businesses in Auckland, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were reportedly owed to creditors, including the Inland Revenue Department.
David Harte, the Official Assignee for Auckland, told the Chronicle yesterday that Mr Mack needed prior written consent before he could resume business in a self-employed capacity, but he had not done that.
Mr Harte said the rules governing business activities of any bankrupt were clear.
"Any bankrupt can be employed, no problem there. But if a person wants to be self-employed or work for a family business, they need the prior consent of this office before they can do that."
Mr Harte's office had no knowledge that Mr Mack was doing business as David Mack and Associates for the district council or Wanganui Gas.
"If Mr Mack is holding himself out to be self-employed or working for a family business, he does not have the consent of this office so what he's doing is in breach of the Insolvency Act, and we will be investigating that.
"What I have noted is that interestingly, and perhaps soon after you got involved investigating it, we received an application just over a couple of weeks ago from Mr Mack, and which is being assessed in terms of him seeking an application to be self-employed.
"Even if a person has an application in, they're not allowed to do anything until they have consent. He has not received consent from this office, so he should not be trading," Mr Harte said.
The Wanganui Chronicle began looking into Mr Mack's business background about a month ago and discovered that neither the Wanganui District Council nor Wanganui Gas was aware of his previous business failings.
When Mr Mack learned of our inquiries, he asked for time to disclose the information to the council and his other local clients.
He promised an interview with the Chronicle and said he would have all the details for that interview and supporting documentation.
However, despite repeated attempts by the Chronicle to contact Mr Mack since then, he has not responded.
In the past year, Mr Mack was paid for preparing the Wanganui District Council's rebranding and the branding of the council-owned gas and electricity company, Energy Direct.
He had been engaged by the council's economic development arm, Wanganui Inc (Winc), to handle the city's rebranding. As a result of that work, he was given the Wanganui Gas contract.
He was taken on after the gas company management sounded out several brand managers.
The council paid Mr Mack a total of $26,302. No precise figure is yet available on how much he received for his Energy Direct work. But in an interview with the Chronicle last month, Wanganui Gas CEO Trevor Goodwin said the whole branding programme cost about $100,000, of which Mr Mack would have received about $20,000.
On Friday, May 11, the district council launched an inquiry after receiving a complaint from Andy Jarden, general manager of the Wanganui Chronicle.
The council inquiry team reported that Mr Jarden alleged that "improper influence" had been brought to bear on his company by "person or persons" purporting to represent the gas company and the council.
The investigation found that Winc had no idea of the commercial bans against Mr Mack, nor did it make any background checks on him other than relying on a reference from a Winc staff member.
No district councillors or council staff were aware of Mr Mack's commercial background, and he did not disclose that information either... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=10957069
BY JOHN MASLIN June 9, 2007
