THE MAN who prepared the Wanganui District Council's rebranding
and the new brand for Wanganui Gas' retail division, Energy Direct, was
working illegally.
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.
But that hasn't been granted yet," Mr Harte said.
"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
