The Star: February 15, 2024
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>February</strong> <strong>15</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />
4<br />
NEWS<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Plumber seeks $65k for unpaid work<br />
• From page 1<br />
It is understood the<br />
receiverships relate to work<br />
carried out on the property. A<br />
consent was issued in March<br />
2021 to rebuild the garage, add<br />
two bedrooms and an ensuite,<br />
plus other alterations.<br />
Peter Drennan from<br />
Waterstone Insolvency said<br />
although Ignite Solutions Ltd<br />
was the sole appointer for the<br />
receiverships, it was aware of a<br />
number of other claims.<br />
“It’s not appropriate for us to<br />
comment on totals or numbers<br />
at this stage,” he said, adding not<br />
all creditors have claims against<br />
both individuals.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ministry of Business,<br />
Innovation & Employment’s<br />
Insolvency and Trustee<br />
Service confirmed Findlay was<br />
previously adjudicated bankrupt<br />
on December 14, 2017 and<br />
discharged on January 30, 2021.<br />
This followed the liquidation<br />
of his project management firm,<br />
Project 1 Design, in July that<br />
year.<br />
Christchurch plumber Darren<br />
Maher was caught up in the<br />
collapse of Project 1 Design,<br />
and says he is still owed $65,000<br />
for unpaid work carried out<br />
at an apartment complex on<br />
Manchester St in March 2017.<br />
He is investigating whether he<br />
can make a claim on proceeds<br />
from the house sale.<br />
“I’m speaking to my legal<br />
team. It’s still a possibility,” he<br />
said.<br />
Maher<br />
was among<br />
unsecured<br />
creditors owed<br />
$611,333.20<br />
according to<br />
a liquidators’<br />
Darren<br />
Maher<br />
report dated<br />
<strong>February</strong> 2018.<br />
“I was one of<br />
the ones who<br />
bankrupted him. I’ve been to<br />
the police, it’s just complete and<br />
utter burglary. He done me out<br />
of $65,000 plus GST in a week.”<br />
He said the work at six<br />
apartments on Manchester St<br />
was completed on April 3, 2017,<br />
and three days later Findlay<br />
had told him via a text message<br />
a payment had been made, but<br />
it did not appear in Gillon &<br />
Maher Plumbing Ltd’s bank<br />
account.<br />
On April 17, 2017, Maher told<br />
police he received an email from<br />
Findlay saying that he (Findlay)<br />
had not been paid “and for that<br />
he was forced to take action”.<br />
Concerned he would not get<br />
paid, Maher planned to return<br />
to the apartments and remove<br />
the fixtures and fittings but this<br />
JOB LOSS:<br />
Plumber<br />
Darren Maher<br />
said he was<br />
$65,000 out<br />
of pocket<br />
after not been<br />
paid for work<br />
done at this<br />
apartment<br />
complex on<br />
Manchester St.<br />
was not possible as the site was<br />
handed back to the developers<br />
on April 12, 2017.<br />
“He sets up a company as a<br />
project manager, gets everyone<br />
in to do the work, gets paid and<br />
then pockets the money or goes<br />
bankrupt. That’s the way he<br />
works,” Maher said.<br />
Former signwriter Glenn Lily<br />
said he was owed $25,000, an<br />
amount he eventually wrote off.<br />
“Long story short, he just<br />
didn’t pay,” he said.<br />
When contacted by <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Star</strong>, Findlay was surprised<br />
to be reminded of the 2017<br />
bankruptcy.<br />
“If someone’s contacted you<br />
I’m assuming they’re trying to<br />
defame me, embarrass me or<br />
cause some trigger effect of not<br />
getting paid or something. This<br />
could not be further from the<br />
truth,” he said.<br />
“When I was made bankrupt<br />
I worked through that and<br />
followed the letter of the law.”<br />
Findlay, who described himself<br />
as a sole trading individual<br />
project manager, said he had not<br />
worked for six months, a factor<br />
leading to the family home being<br />
sold.<br />
“This is a sensitive situation for<br />
us, we’re losing our family home.<br />
<strong>The</strong> house is owned by my wife<br />
so I’m not about to get a million<br />
dollars. We’re getting nothing.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> property listing said the<br />
home underwent a full rewire<br />
and extension, along with a new<br />
roof in 2022.<br />
Promoted as ‘redefining<br />
contemporary family living’<br />
within highly coveted school<br />
zones, the property also features<br />
private bespoke gardens, two<br />
lounge spaces plus a single<br />
bedroom/office and a yet to be<br />
completed and carpeted internal<br />
access double garage.<br />
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