Fraud charges follow liquidation of company

June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A Company director has been arrested at his home and bailed to appear in Court on Tuesday facing four charges of causing loss by deception (fraud), following the liquidation of his company which has debts of more than $2 million.

The Dominion Post (Friday, June 22, p. A5) has named the man the company in its report:

See: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7149604/Piano-shop-director-to-face-fraud-charges

A PLIMMERTON piano salesman, Cameron Crawford, is facing fraud charges after claims millions owed to those who sold instruments through his company are gone.

Cameron Crawford, director of Pianoshop Ltd for more than a decade, was arrested at his home in Raumati South yesterday and bailed to appear in Porirua District Court on Tuesday.

He will face four charges of causing loss by deception. However it was likely that more charges would be laid as other victims came forward to police, Detective Jocelyn Bell said.

Police will request a lengthy remand period, in order to give time to gather statements from victims, in particular those who had bought or sold pianos through Crawford, Ms Bell said.

Pianoshop, in Plimmerton, was placed in liquidation on May 21, with debts of more than $2 million

A list of creditors included more than 200 customers who bought or sold pianos through the store, but had not received the money they were owed or the instrument they purchased.

Two creditors have told The Dominion Post they have already begun legal action to try to collect debts they claimed were more than a year old.

Contacted at his home earlier this week about allegations of fraud, Crawford refused to make any comment.

Shortly after the company was placed into liquidation, Crawford said he was “gutted” the company had been liquidated.

Ms Bell said police had received complaints from several creditors who had given Crawford pianos to sell, but had never received their money. Some were told up until February that their instruments were unsold, but were then contacted as creditors in March by a company trying to strike a deal to receive Pianoshop’s debt.

“From there they’ve been able to uncover the fact that the piano has been sold a year earlier.”

Ms Bell understood that another complaint had been made in Rotorua in relation to the case, and that police had received a file from liquidator Murray Allott which also alleged fraud.

The first liquidator’s report on Pianoshop showed it had run up debts of almost $2.4 million, however selling its assets was likely to raise less than $100,000.

Secured creditor Lock Finance is owed more than $340,000, while employees and the Inland Revenue are owed another $236,000, making it unlikely unsecured creditors will receive any payment from the liquidation.

Filed Under: Enforcement Tagged With: , , ,

Eden Digital Ltd – update on liquidation and Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence transfer

June 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Update on Inquiry into Funding of NZ Porn Industry: On 13th June 2012 the second Liquidator’s Report on Eden Digital Limited was issued. It revealed that one preferential creditor – (the IRD) has filed a claim in the liquidation of $171,792 [for unpaid GST & PAYE].  Based on the first (earlier) Liquidation Report, Eden Digital Ltd employees, who constitute another class of preferential creditors, are owed $20,000 in wages. The latest report shows that seven non-preferential (unsecured) creditors, have filed claims totalling $183,901 in the liquidation. This brings the total owed by Eden Digital Ltd to these creditors, to $355,693. An additional several thousands of dollars will be probably claimed by Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, of Reynolds & Associates Ltd, (Insolvency Practitioners), for his fees and expenses, and these costs must be paid in advance of all other payments to preferential creditors.

It is unlikely that any of the unsecured creditors will receive anything after all the secured creditors are finally paid out. The latter include the shareholder CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr CPA and holder of all 150,000 company shares in Eden Digital Ltd, Vision Rentals Ltd, Solutions Group Receivables, Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Harper Collins Publishers.

Eden Digital Ltd, which was incorporated on 23rd April 2008, held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo until 16 September 2011 (as reported in the Waikato Times) – the day John M Carr CPA resigned as director of Eden Digital Ltd and appointed Raymond Sydney Corben Simpson of Mt Eden, Auckland, as its sole director. On that same day the Expo licence owner, CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr, withdrew the licence from the licencee Eden Digital Ltd, also directed by John M Carr. (CVC Group Ltd owns Eden Digital Ltd and both have John M Carr as sole director).

Although Eden Digital Ltd was technically put into liquidation “by special resolution of the shareholders”, under ‘the watch’ of Mr Raymond Simpson on 22nd November 2011; this action was necessitated as a result of a financial collapse that occurred under the sole ‘watch’/directorship of John M Carr.

It would appear that Eden Digital Ltd must have been trading whilst insolvent and had not been paying tax for many months – prior to Mr Simpson being appointed as director – a state of affairs that occurred under the directorship of John M Carr – he was director from 23 April 2008  to 16 September 2011. More importantly he was sole director from 15 May 2010 to 13 September 2010.

Having abandoned the directorship of Eden Digital Ltd on 16 September 2011, Mr John M Carr’s next move was to incorporate the company Esprit Events Ltd, of which he is sole director, a company also owned by CVC Group Ltd. Esprit Events Ltd purchased the Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence from CVC Group Ltd, a company of which he (Carr) is also sole director. CVC Group Ltd wholly owns both Eden Digital Ltd and Esprit Events Ltd.

Eden Digital Ltd was the licensee of Erotica Expo Expo and the transfer of the licence to a related party, Esprit Events Ltd, could hardly be seen as a significant or complex financial transaction. Director John M Carr merely obtained the licence from himself and then gave it to back himself, then returned it to himself, to put it crudely. Such a ‘transaction’ did not require a large contingent of lawyers from Checketts McKay Law firm in Cromwell or a consignment of Adult Services handmaidens to effect the ‘complex’ financial ownership transmutation. It was not exactly the ‘sale of the century’.

Having now obtained the financial records of Eden Digital Ltd, Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, has indicated that he will be focusing his investigation into Mr John M Carr’s activities as director: specifically on “any potential breaches under the Companies Act,” and on any possible voidable preferences”. He will also be “Reviewing the sale of the business [Erotica Lifestyles Expo/Eden Digital Ltd] to a related party [Esprit Events Ltd] pre liquidation including obtaining advice on the validity of the sale and whether or not adequate consideration was given by the Purchaser for the business.”

Among the 22 unsecured creditors of Eden Digital Ltd listed in the First Liquidation Report filed on 23 November 2011, are PJ Digital Ltd and the US-registered corporation Better Business Services, Inc.  [see note below] both owned and directed by John M Carr; NZX Media Ltd and Ezisoft Computer Systems Ltd, both directed by David Bruce Crow; ASB Showgrounds which has provided the venue for a number of successive Erotica Lifestyle Expos; IRD (penalties and interest for unpaid tax), and ACC (unpaid ACC levies).

Note: Better Business Services, Inc., also referred to as BBS Inc, was incorporated in San Antonio, Texas, on November 11th, 1983, and was authorised under Texas Charter number 67876000 to carry out defined business activities in Texas, including those carried out in a certified public accountancy practice (tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll etc). John M Carr CPA is director, president and registered agent of Better Business Services, Inc. an unsecured creditor of the NZ-registered company Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq). On 6th September 1984 under charter number P03291 BBS, Inc. was authorised to do similar business in Florida.

References:

Expo claim ‘bollocks’  By Daniel Adams. 29 November 2011

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/6053216/Expo-claim-bollocks

Companies Office website: www.companies.govt.nz

Porn Kingdom asset sale to be questioned. National Business Review. 8 July 2009. By Lucy Craymer.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/porn-kingdom-asset-sale-be-questioned-105061

Filed Under: Enforcement, Pornography Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Cynical Porn Parade Will Confront Children – says Family First NZ

February 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Cynical Porn Parade Will Confront Children: Family First NZ Media Release 22/02/12

Family First NZ [a registered charity with the Charities Commission] is advising parents of school children in Palmerston North to be aware that there will be a public pornography parade featuring topless girls happening after children have been released from school on Friday. [It is again calling for politicians to "amend" the law "so that public porn parades and public displays of nudity are deemed offensive and indecent, and thereby illegal."]

“The Erotica [Lifestyles Expo] Promotion, also known as Boobs on Bikes, is scheduled to travel around the central city square from 4pm. This is a cynical move by the hard core porn industry to expose children and young people to the industry,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“We would advise parents to do everything they can to avoid children being exposed to this parade, and if necessary, they should keep their children at home for the day.”

Family First is disappointed that the parade is even able to happen in such a public venue but points the blame squarely at the police for not enforcing the law consistently, judges who believe that topless porn parades and nudity are not offensive, and the lack of political willpower to act in the best interests of families and children.

“Steve Crow can label it a ‘freedom of expression’ event, but to the intelligent, it is simply a cynical attempt to market and normalise the porn industry to families.”

“It is time that the rights of families not to be exposed to offensive and adult material are put before the rights of the pornography industry to promote themselves,” says Mr McCoskrie.

Family First NZ continues to call on the politicians to amend the Summary Offences Act and the Crimes Act so that public porn parades and public displays of nudity are deemed offensive and indecent, and thereby illegal.

ENDS

www.familyfirst.org.nz

Note: The licensee for staging Erotica Lifestyles Expo is Esprit Events Ltd , a company incorporated on 10 November 2011 by John Malcolm Carr CPA just days before the former licensee Eden Digital Ltd, also directed by John M Carr, was put into liquidation on 22 November. Carr is sole director of CVC Group Ltd,  which  owns Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq) and Esprit Events Ltd. On 16 September 2011 John Carr revoked the license Eden Digital held to stage Erotica. This was done on the same day he resigned as director of Eden Digital Ltd. On 11 November the license was transferred from Eden Digital Ltd to Esprit Events Ltd. CVC Group Ltd owns the trademark for “Boobs on Bikes” – used in the Erotica parade which markets Mr Carr’s hardcore porn business.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Announcement, Family, Pornography Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Hamilton City Council’s near miss as sexpo firm folds

November 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The company wanting to host a sex expo at Claudelands went into liquidation the same day it asked the Hamilton City Council to agree to the show.

Councillor Dave Macpherson said the council had had a lucky escape despite not being aware of the financial situation when it voted 9-1 last week against hosting the Erotica Lifestyle Expo.

Eden Digital Ltd, which held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo, was put into liquidation on November 22 and, according to the liquidator’s report, struggled to attract large numbers to the event and had suffered cashflow problems.

Auckland-based liquidator Grant Reynolds said sole shareholder CVC Group director John Carr appointed him to liquidate the company after realising it had no way to repay its debts.

CVC Group removed the licence for Erotica from Eden Digital “some months back” and as a result the company had lost its revenue-earning ability.

This month CVC set up Esprit Events, which is the new licence-holder for Erotica.

Eden Digital went into liquidation owing $434,000 [most of it to IRD] and Mr Reynolds said it was unlikely any of the unsecured creditors would be repaid in full.

ASB Showgrounds in Auckland is among the unsecured creditors. [It had served as a venue for Erotica Lifestyles Expo for some years, but recently its management ended its contract with the Expo organisers, no doubt due to unpaid bills].

Source http://www.spcs.org.nz/wp-admin/post-new.php

Story by Nikki Preston. Published Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Continues ……

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Eden Digital Ltd liquidation follows liquidation of Payroll Solution Services Ltd

November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Commissioner of the Inland Revenue made an application dated 20 June 2011, to place Payroll Solution Services Ltd (Co. No. 1382579), directed by John M Carr CPA (see photo:  http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg) in liquidation. The application was heard by High Court at Auckland on 5 August 2011 (CIV-2011- 404-3727). The failed company, owned by Cherokee Holdings Ltd, which is also directed by John M Carr, was placed into liquidation by the High Court pursuant to s. 241(2)(c) of the Companies Act 1993 on 2 September 2011. It The was incorporated in August 2003 to provide “services to a few large clients“, according to John M Carr, as noted in the liquidator’s report dated 5 October 2011. The Liquidator, Craig Alexander Sanson, also reported:

“We were advised that the company provided services exclusively to companies related to the director [John M Carr]. The company ceased to trade in April 2011…. [Emphasis added]

“The director advised that a large payroll client ran into difficulty when they lost a customer and suffered cash flow problems. The client was unable to pay the company [Payroll Solution Services] and subsequently the company has insufficient cash flow to meet its tax obligations. The company was liquidated on the petition of the Inland Revenue Department. [Emphasis added]

“The director advised that as at liquidation date the company held no realisable assets.”

The liquidator will no doubt want to identity the “large payroll client” John Malcolm Carr CPA refers to here that he claims lost a “customer” leading to its failure to pay for services rendered it by Payroll Solution Services Ltd, thereby causing the latter to have “insufficient cash flow to meet its tax obligations”?

Let us examine some of the possibilities:

1. PJ Digital Ltd 

This is a NZ registered company which John M Carr owns and directs. and which owns a property in Freemans Bay, Central Auckland. It owns the domain name belex.co.nz and is owner of Belex Carding Co – a wool scouring machinery operation – located in Central Otago (see ref. 1). The accounts for PJ Digital Ltd were serviced exclusively by Payroll Solution Services Ltd (In liq) directed by John M Carr, up until about April 2011 when the latter ceased trading (according to Mr Carr).

PJ Digital Ltd owns the trade mark to the business Pacific Alpacas (www.pacificalpacas.com) of which John M Carr is principal agent (see ref. 2). It was through this business  that John M Carr sought unsuccessfully to sell a shipping container load of about 10,000 kgs of scoured alpaca fibre worth about $100,000, to a US customer in 2011. The deal fell through about the time John M Carr told the liquidator that Payroll Solution Services Ltd ceased trading (April 2011).

The raw fibre was sourced by John M Carr and his agents from 121 New Zealand suppliers and the US order was cancelled by the customer just prior to the consignment being shipped. The fibre  has subsequently been sold off to other buyers after Payroll Solution Services Ltd is supposed to have ceased to trade (April 2011, according to Carr). 

John M Carr first notified his NZ alpaca fibre suppliers on 2 June 2011 that the US customer had reneged on the 10,000 kg purchase.  As a result he says he was forced to find alternative buyers for the container load of fibre and he informed all fibre suppliers on 29 December 2011 via his website www.pacificalpacas.com that he hoped to have all his creditors paid in full by the end of the first quarter of 2012.  He told them that the value of the original fibre stock was $99,000, but this would probably reduce to about $94,000 when it was all finally sold. He informed them that invoices were still being issued in January 2012 to customers buying the remaining fibre.

So why has Payroll Solution Services, Ltd. directed by John M Carr, been unable to pay its creditor – IRD?

As noted, he told the liquidator it was because “the company had insufficient cash flow to meet its tax obligations… and ceased to trade in April 2011″.

If he was trying to somehow shift the responsibility away from himself as director of Payroll Solution Services Ltd and onto PJ Digital Ltd, (a possible candidate as the “large payroll client”); this makes no sense as he owns and directs the latter company. If PJ Digital Ltd was ultimately responsible for the failed sale agreement involving $100,000 worth of fibre, could this failure in itself be blamed for its lack of “cash flow” leading to the liquidation of Payroll Solution Services Ltd?

This suggestion seems implausible if the following claims made by John M Carr after April 2011, are true…

Despite having informed the liquidator that Payroll Solution Services Ltd had ceased to trade in April 2011, John M Carr had written to alpaca fibre suppliers on 2 June 2011 stating:

“The worst day of this project was Wednesday May 11th 2011…. Since then, we have sold 40% of the stock he [the US buyer who reneged] had committed to buy, have 10% on firm offer, but to five different customers at prices that were better or equal to our original budget in US dollars…

“We will provide an accounting for the prices that we have achieved by the end of June now that we have some visibility as to all the costs and realised prices for 50% of the fibre.

“Payment will be by Direct Credit. Please complete the attached form…”

In a letter to the Fibre Pool dated 4th July 2001, John M Carr wrote:

“We have sold, or got commitment for $77,000 of fibre. We have total stock valued at $99,000 – about $5,000 less than US commitment…

“We have received payment for $22,000 of the fibre as of June 30th 2011. We have sales receivable of $52,000 … and we have 6 bales … worth approximately $22,000.

“I would like to do another collection [of fibre] in the North Island in late September [2011] once the majority of the funds have been paid out.”

The domain name “pacificalpacas.com,” used by Mr John M Carr to communicate with “all participating [NZ fibre] growers” and to market his business in NZ, was registered with Godaddy.com on 2 November 2010. It is owned by a US-registered corporation Better Business Services, Inc. – PO Box 780637 San Antonio, Texas – a corporation owned and directed by John M Carr.

This brings us to the second potential “large payroll client” that John M Carr may well have been pointing the liquidator to as the culprit that caused Payroll Solution Services Ltd to be be unable to pay its taxes and consequently be put into liquidation.

2. Better Business Services, Inc.

This corporation is registered in the state of Texas (Taxpayer No. 17422888796 File No. 0067876000 SOS Reg. date 7 November 1983). It is also registered to do business in the state of Florida and John M Carr is its registered agent and principal (FEI/EIN No. 742288879. Doc. No. Po3291. Date filed 9/06/1984).

The domain name pacificalpacas.com is found at at IP address 184.172.4.10 along with the domain names: johnmcarr.com  bbs.co.nz and bbstax.com – and all are owned by Better Business Services, Inc./John M Carr. This strongly suggests that the John M Carr’s Pacific Alpacas business is owned or at least part-owned by Better Business Services, Inc./John Carr.

According to what John M Carr reported to the liquidator, the NZ registered company Payroll Solution Services, Ltd had no employees or assets at the time it was put into liquidation on 2 September 2011, four months after he claimed all trading operations had ceased in April 2011.

The Liquidators have since analysed the books and records of the company and have identified a claim against the director John M Carr. They state in their second report dated 26 April 2012:

“We have made demand for this claim and expect to receive a response within the next month.”

Who has made this demand?

Perhaps John M Carr has structured his convoluted company network such that the hardcore porn businesses owned by Better Business Services Inc. are all serviced by Payroll Solution Services Ltd (In liq). If so the “large payroll services client” that caused the demise Payroll Solution Services Ltd may have been Better Business Services, Inc. To put it crudely Mr John M Carr may have engineered his own downfall himself using himself as the agent!

3. Payroll Solution Services, Inc. – An “active” corporation formed in the State of Florida (FEI/EIN 742650806. Doc. No. L42315 filed on 1/10/90). Principal address: 1621 Hillcrest St, Orlando FL 32803-4809 US. Mailing address: P.O. Box 780637 San Antonio TX 78278-0637 – the business address for John M Carr, who is registered agent, principal and director of the corporation.

New Zealand and US tax authorities will no doubt be very keen to establish the true nature of the relationship, if any, between Payroll Solution Services, Inc (Florida), and the NZ registered company Payroll Solution Services Ltd (In liq). The latter as noted, is fully owned by NZ-registered Cherokee Holdings Ltd, directed by John M Carr. (Cherokee Holdings Ltd is owned by The New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Ltd).

Perhaps Payroll Solution Services Inc. (Florida) was the client of  Payroll Solution Services Ltd (In liq) that failed to pay its bills for services rendered by Mr John M Carr!

4. Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq) - directed by John M Carr from 23 April 2008 to 13 September 2011. (It specialises in the marketing of hard core pornography and held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo. One of its former directors, Steve Crow, was banned in 2010 from being a company director for four years).

Three months after John M Carr resigned as director of Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq), the company was put into voluntary liquidation on 22 November 2011, by the actions of its shareholder - CVC Group Ltd – which has John M Carr as its sole director. The Liquidator’s first report filed on 23 November 2011, records that Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq) “has suffered cash flow problems over the last 24 months“.

Was the “large payroll client” that caused the collapse of Payroll Solution Services Ltd in fact John M Carr’s Eden Digital Ltd?

This failed hardcore porn company does seem to fit the bill and tick all the boxes with respect to its cash flow problems which have become almost legendary due to wide media coverage of its financial meltdown and the link between its director John M Carr and his “business partner” – banned company director Steve Crow.

Listed among the 22 unsecured creditors of Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq) in the Liquidator’s first report filed on 23 November 2011 are two companies owned and directed by John M Carr: PJ Digital Ltd P.O. Box 2864 Remuera, Auckland; and Better Business Services, Inc., PO Box 780637 San Antonio, USA.

Better Business Services, Inc. owns the domain names of a number of hard core porn websites linked to Eden Digital. The debt Eden Digital Ltd owes PJ Digital Ltd may relate to the use of its accomodation units in Freemans Bay, Auckland, owned by the latter, and used by Eden Digital staff and/or porn star imports performing in Erotica Lifestyle Expo events.

According to John M Carr, the “large payroll client” of Payroll Solution Services Ltd, that caused the latter’s demise, “ran into difficulty when they lost a customer and suffered cash flow problems”.

Is it possible that Eden Digital Ltd had a customer unable to clear a debt, causing it to suffer cash flow problems? Many businesses face similar difficulties in hard economic times. One only needs to look at the list of 22 unsecured creditors in the first Liquidation Report on Eden Digital to find evidence of this!

Significant  Points to Note:

Better Business Services, Inc., a foreign-registered corporation, owns the Pacific Alpacas website and PJ Digital Ltd a NZ-registered company, owns the Pacific Alpacas business trade mark. Both companies are owned and directed by John M Carr. The NZ-registered company  Payroll Solution Services, Ltd., (In Liq), directed by John M Carr, appears to have provided payroll services to the Pacific Alpacas business owned by John M Carr.

The company’s inability to pay its tax leading to its liquidation, came about because of “cash flow problems”, according to John M Carr, due to a “large payroll client” having its own cash flow problems. That “large payroll client” of Payroll Solution Services Ltd was most likely Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq), directed by John M Carr. Eden Digital Ltd has among its unsecured creditors PJ Digital Ltd and Better Business Services, both owned and directed by John M Carr.

Here we have the creation of a potential classic tax-avoidance loop involving the Pacific Alpacas business, Better Business Services, Inc. and PJ Digitsl Ltd, AND their owner who holds both US and New Zealand citizenship.

This arrangement can be illustrated by a parallel case set up by Mr John M Carr involving four companies he has directed for over ten years: PJ Digital Ltd, First Virtual Deposit & Nominee Company Ltd, Shelf Company No. 10 and Velocity Partners Ltd. According to NZ Company Office Records (www.companies.govt.nz), all four were owned up until 31 March 2010, by a US-registered company of which John M Carr was director and principal, called Carr Consulting P.A. (formerly named Cuchara Inc. up until 1999).

John M Carr was convicted in the Auckland District Court on 15 October 2010 for offences he had committed under the Financial Reporting Act 1993, relating to these four NZ-registered companies. He had failed to disclose to the Ministry of Economic Development that they were all foreign-owned entities and failed to file the required annual financial returns (see ref. 4).

On 20 April 2010, prior to this court case and facing ongoing investigations by the National Enforcement Office of the Ministry of Economic Development, John M Carr recorded on-line the transfer of the ownership of all four companies from John M Carr (Carr Consulting P.A.) to himself. Prior to this share transfer change, no doubt effected just prior to the end of the 2009/2010 tax year (31 March 2010), all four companies were owned by an overseas foreign entity (Carr Consulting P.A. owned by John M Carr) and under the Financial Reporting Act 1993, the director (John M Carr) of all four had been required to file Financial accounts with the Companies Office for all four. As noted, John M Carr failed to do so and was convicted in the Auckland District Court under s. 19 & 39 of the Act on 6 charges for failing to submit financial statements for these four companies. He was sentenced on 15 October 2010.

Over the period prior to March/April 2010 – the date of the share transfer – Carr Consulting P.A. (a US -registered entity) was owned by a NZ-registered company directed by John M Carr – Cheyenne Insurance Company (NZ) Limited (Co. No. 478505) which he owns. The four-fold tax-back loop he created raises serious questions for the IRD and IRS. On 27 October 2010, just days after his convictions, Mr Carr changed the name of his company Cheyenne Insurance Company (NZ) Ltd to Cheyenne Investment Company (NZ) Ltd. It had never been involved in any insurance work in New Zealand, but rather was heavily involved in property development.

Conclusion: The liquidation of Eden Digital Ltd and Payroll Solution Services Ltd have at least one common factor – the involvement of company director John Malcolm Carr. The convoluted company and business connections outlined above involving Mr John M Carr providing payroll services to his own companies, will no doubt be of considerable interest to liquidators of both companies, and creditors, the media and the New Zealand public.

References

1. Wool getting around world on word-of-mouth

Otago Daily Times 29 March 2008. Story by Marjorie Cook

http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/luggate/2471/wool-getting-around-world-word-mouth?page=0%2C1

Geoff Taylor of Wanaka, sold his Belex wool Business to John M Carr in February 2008.

The domain name belex.co.nz is owned by PJ Digital Ltd, which is owned by John M Carr, PO Box 28684 Remuera, Auckland 1541

See the website www.belex.co.nz as at 25 May 2010

Go to: http://web.archive.org/web/20100525170005/http://www.belex.co.nz/

2. See Intellectual Property Office Records: Search Trade Marks

http://www.iponz.govt.nz/app/Extra/IP/TM/Qbe.aspx?sid=634756213555085133

http://www.iponz.govt.nz/app/Extra/Case/Browse.aspx?sid=634756213555085133

3. American director misses court date. Story by Michael Field. 12 August 2008.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4017695/American-director-misses-court-date

Businessman fined $6000 for ‘ironic’ breach of FRA. 15 October 2010

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/131903/businessman-fined-6000-ironic-breach-fra

Filed Under: Enforcement Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Porn research awarded $790,000 by Marsden Fund

November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Auckland researchers have been awarded almost $800,000 to study pornography. The $790,000 study by Auckland University staff will look at how it affects viewers and its impact on society. The research will include studies on young men and women, an art exhibition, an interactive website and a public symposium. The project is one of 88 nationwide to receive a slice of $53.8 million handed out in Marsden Fund Grants last month. Marsden Fund Council chairman Professor Peter Hunter said a scientific study of the impact of pornography on vulnerable members of society “in the age of easy availability” was extremely important.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12004926/porn-study-grant-worth-790-000/

Comment: One of the objects for which the Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc., (“SPCS”) was established was to focus public attention on the harmful nature of pornography. For the purposes of section 3 of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (“the Act”), “a publication is objectionable if it descibes, depicts, expresses, or otherwise deals with matters of sex, horror, crime, cruelty, or violence in such a manner that the availabliity of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good.”

The Act recognises that children and young persons, in particular, are vulnerable to the harmful effects of exposure to pornography – hence age restrictions are imposed by the censors on poronographic publications and others are banned. The “extent and degree to which, and the manner in which the publication depicts…  sexual conduct of a degrading or dehumanising or demeaning sexual conduct” is one criterion used to determine whether or not it is to be classified objectionable.

Family First NZ, a charity registered with the Charities Commission, has also been at the forefront of highlighting the offensive nature of hardcore pornograhy and documenting how it is injurious to the public good.

Denise Richie, director of Stop the Demand Foundation, another charity registered with the Charities Commission, put it this way, in her submission to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) , as part of  her complaint against a “mobile billboard” displayed prominently in a public place – promoting the Erotica Lifestyles Expo:

“The image is designed to simulate a woman with her fingers in her [******] It is standard Steve Crow fare, with its focus on dehumanising women and reducing them to their genitalia”. (ASA decision dated 14/09/2010 concerning complaint 10/448).

(Eden Digital Ltd, directed up until recently by John Malcolm Carr, which owned the license for Erotica Lifestyles Expo, was put into liquidation on 22 November 2011).

The Society (SPCS), as part of its objects, seeks “to support freedom of expression which does not injure the public good by degrading, dehumanising or demeaning individuals or classes of people.” Hardcore pornography has the effect degrading, dehumanising and demeaning women. Its negative impact on viewers of such material has been well-documented in the literature.

 

 

Filed Under: Censorship, Human Dignity, Pornography Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Eden Digital Ltd, former holder of Erotica Lifestyles Expo license: – in liquidation

November 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Eden Digital Ltd, a company that sold and distributed hardcore pornography in New Zealand for over three years and until recently was directed by US investor John Malcolm Carr CPA, was placed into liquidation yesterday, 22 November 2011, under s. 241(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1993.

See: US-based critic of economy [John M Carr CPA: (see photo http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg ) has lots more to say

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=154653

The majority of the estimated total deficit of Eden Digital Ltd (Co. No. 2122974), $434,000, is owed to the NZ Inland Revenue Department: $147,000 in GST/PAYE (IRD is a preferential creditor) and  $148,000 owed to IRD (unsecured creditor). A total of $295,000 is therefore owed to IRD.

In addition, trade creditors (unsecured) are owed $119,000 and $20,000 is owed in wages/entitlements to the companyy's former employees. (see Liquidator’s first report published today on the Companies Office website (www.companies.govt.nz).

The report records the reasons provided by the director Mr John M Carr CPA for Eden Digital being put into into liquidation and they include:

(1) the company was in default with its financiers and demand was made on the company due to that default, (2) the company has been supported financially by related entities [all directed by John M Carr CPA] and recently their financial support was withdrawn (3) the business was recently sold and such proceeds were applied to the security holders including CVC Group Ltd directed by John M Carr CPA (see below) (4) with no remaining assets the company was unable to trade and as a result its only shareholder [CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr CPA] had no option but to place the company into receivership, (5) Eden Digital Ltd that held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo, cancelled the license which meant that this aspect of its business could not continue.

The Waikato Times reported on 18 November 2011 that the Hamilton City Council “had been approached by Eden Digital Media [sic] to book Claudelands [event venue] for the [Erotica Lifestyles] expo in March [2012]“.

Fortunately for the Council, its councillors voted yesterday against allowing this hardcore porn fest using council facilities, given the fact that Eden Digital Ltd was probably insolvent throughout much of the period of time that its officers entered into negotiations with the Hamilton City Council. The Liquidator will be examining such matters to determine whether or not the company director John M Carr may have committed offences under the Companies Act 1993 (eg. trading whie insolvent)..

The majority of councillors (9 to 1) took the view that it was “inappropriate” to use the Claudelands venue for the staging of porn related activities as proposed by David Bruce Crow. They voted against the Arena being used for this proposed event.

David Bruce Crow, has been reported as acting as “spokesperson” for Esprit Events Ltd (Co. No. 3648912), another company directed by John M Carr and only recently incorporated on 10 November 2011. David Crow made an approach to the Hamilton City Council seeking the use of the Claudelands event venue for the sexpo, but without success. Concerned over the moral welfare of the community, councillors voted against the proposed use of the events venue to stage and promote porn 9 to 1.

Secured creditors of Eden Digital Ltd include its shareholder, CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr, Vision rentals Ltd, Solutions Group Receivables, Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Harper Collins Publishers.

Unsecured creditors include Inland Revenue; Ezisoft Computer Systems Ltd directed by David Bruce Crow and owned by his wife Carolyn Rose Crow; NZX Media Ltd, co-directed by David Bruce Crow; PJ Digital Ltd, owned and directed by John Malcolm Carr; Florida US -based Better Business Services, Inc., owned and directed by John Malcolm Carr; and the ASB Showgrounds, Epsom, Auckland – the former longtime venue for Erotica Lifestyles Expo.

All unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive anything according to the Liquidator, Grant Bruce Reynolds of Reynolds & Associates Ltd, Insolvency Practitioners of Penrose,  Auckland.

Update: Liquidatation Notice – NZ Herald Thursday 24 November 2011. The failed company was put into liquidation puruant to section 241(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1993.

Reference

The Bob Dey Property Report (the week to 27 November 2011)

Voluntary liquidation: Steve Crow-related Eden Digital sells business, closes

http://www.propbd.co.nz/afa.asp?idWebPage=8338&idBobDeyProperty_Articles=17011&SID=1061986009

Company: Eden Digital Ltd
Directors: Raymond Simpson, Mt Eden
Liquidation: 22 November
Solvent: No
Liquidators: Grant Reynolds (Reynolds & Associates Ltd)
Other details: The company held the licence for the Erotica Lifestyle Expo, but the licence was cancelled because of defaults. The business was recently sold. Mr Simpson is a director of Bodyrock Promotions (NZ) Ltd (removed from register 2004) & Digital Matrix Ltd (removed from register 2004). Former directors are Steve Crow, Ellerslie, & John Carr, now of Cromwell. Mr Crow – best known for running the Boobs on Bikes parade down Queen St – put Malibu Media Limited (ex-Erotica Expo Ltd) & Z4K74D Ltd (ex-Vixen Direct Ltd) into liquidation in 2009. He told the liquidators wholesale adult products company Vixen Direct was hit by piracy & parallel importing over the past 2 years, while attendances for the last 2 Erotica expos in Christchurch & Wellington were down by 50%, hitting sales. Mr Crow’s Eden Media Ltd was wound up on 21 May, Brass Magazine Ltd in August 2008, Les Obstacles de l’Amour Ltd 2006. Mr Crow is a director of CVC Group Ltd, HWGA Co Ltd, Sidefx Ltd & Vixen Publications Ltd.
Filed Under: Pornography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Naked Ambition – TVNZ doco

November 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The new director of hardcore porn company Eden Digital Ltd, who has replaced American investor John Malcolm Carr, effective 13 September 2011, is Raymond (“Ray”) Sydney Corben Simpson – a resident of Mt Eden, Auckland (see www.companies.govt.nz).

See: US-based critic of economy [John M Carr CPA] has lots more to say

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=154653

see Photo of John M Carr http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg

(John M Carr CPA remains sole director of CVC Group Ltd which owns Eden Digital Ltd and he is a “business partner” of Stephen (Steve) Peter Crow. Carr directs and owns Payroll Solution Services Ltd, which was put into liquidation on the petition of the Inland Revenue Department on 2 September 2011 by the High Court of Auckland pursuant to s. 241(2)(c) of the Companies Act 1993, as well as about 30 other NZ companies. As at liquidation, Carr has advised the liquidators that Payroll Solution Services “held no realisable assets” It “provided services exclusively to companies related to the director” and “ceased to trade in April 2011″).

Ray Smith was Production Manager for the hardcore porn film directed by Steve Crow entitled “RIPE” – featuring 22-year old “Nikki” (not her real name), a three-and-a-half pregnant “wannabe porn star”.  The making of this video was dealt with in graphic detail on the 43 minute TV documentary “Naked Ambition” (recorded on 30 January 2003 and screened on TVNZ Channel One in May 2003);  produced by Creme Media (now owned by Greenstone Pictures, Auckland).

It featured Steve Crow – referred to as “Porn King” and owner at that time of Vixen Direct – a hardcore porn distribution company. It included several scenes with Raymond Simpson together with Steve Crow involved in the filming of the pregnant “Nikki” having sex with two men – co-stars “William a “stripper” aged 24 years and “Andy” a self-declared “exhibitionist” and printer by occupation aged 39 years. Both men were recruited by Crow to take part in his film project. The programme noted that both co-stars were filmed having sex a number of times with ”Nikki” over several days, commencing 10 minutes after meeting her “co-stars”.

There was considerable controversy in 2002 when Crow’s plan to use public hospital facilities to film “Nikki” giving birth – in order to include the footage in his porn film, became public knowledge via the media. Critics were incensed by the intended exploitation of the soon-to-be-born child who they claimed would forever be dubbed “the porn baby”. Crow argued that “Nikki” had a right to have the birth filmed and have it included in the film featuring her. It was all about “freedom of expression” he argued. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Moral Values, Pornography, Sexual Dysfunction Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three Energy Smart companies – all registered charities – in liquidation

October 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A major player in the Government’s home insulation scheme has been put into liquidation by the directors of the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust – a registered charity with the Charities Commission, leaving a trail of more than $1.6 million in outstanding bills.

Three limited liability companies that are charities registered with the Charities Commission, were put into liquidation on 19 September 2011: EnergySmart Ltd, EnergySmart Distributors Ltd and EnergySmart Retrofitting Ltd. They are service providers involved in the supply of subsidised home insulation and heating and because they are registered with the EECA (Energy Efficienct Conservation Authority), they can access sizeable government subsidies.  

EnergySmart Ltd, a Wellington-based company, recorded a $13.648 M gross income in the last financial year (ending 31/12/10) and of  this, $2.715 M was spent on salaries and related expenses. Its recorded total liability for the financial year ending 31 December 2010, as recorded on the Charities Commission website, was $4,631,147. A net deficit of $821,018 was recorded for income over expenditure.

The Liquidators have estimated that once all the value of all Energy Smart’s assets have been realised, it will still have a shortfall of at least $1,634,335 – money owed to its creditors (largely suppliers of insulation product).  However, this is clearly a very conservative estimate of its total debt and does not take account of any debt claims by unsecured creditors. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Crafar Farms, Foreign ownership, May Wang & the Overseas Investment Act 2005

November 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Enforcement agencies such as the National Enforcement Unit (NEU) of the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the judiciary (the Courts/Justice system) and the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), all play a key role in upholding community standards, prescribed in law, promoting and serving the “public good” and advancing the welfare of New Zealanders.

The following is a case study that raises a number of pertinent questions about the role of the above agencies in upholding community standards. The spiritual, social and economic welfare of the public suffers when fraud, corruption and exploitation of the economically vulnerable is allowed to go unchecked.

On 21 October 2010 the SFO commenced a part I investigation into the financial transactions between Hong Kong-based Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings Ltd and three NZ registered companies directed by Ms May Yan Wang: namely UBNZ Trustee Ltd, UBNZ Assets Holdings Ltd and UBNZ Funds Management Ltd. The focus is the involvement of these companies in the purchase of 16 dairy farms formerly owned by the Crafter family company that was put into receivership on 5 October 2009. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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