Dave Henderson [David Ian Henderson], twice-bankrupt Christchurch property developer, remains a bankrupt and yet he is listed on the Companies Office website as owning 100 shares (100%) in FTG Trustee Services Ltd, a company of which he is sole director, and which currently owns 16 companies (see list below).
Is it lawful for Mr Henderson to continue to own these shares while a bankrupt? Should not the Official Assignee (OA) secure them on behalf of creditors and sell them, given that Henderson had gross personal debts of about $165m and $86m after the sale of secured assets, at the time the High Court in Christchurch imposed bankruptcy for the second time on him on 29 November 2010? (He was bankrupted in 1996 for three years). Are these shares not vested in the OA from the commencement of Henderson’s bankruptcy? If not why not?
These questions can best be answered by first examining The Insolvency Act 2006 –