Yasmine Holdings director blames wife for diverting house sale funds intended for Inland Revenue

The director of a trucking firm that collapsed owing $1 million to Inland Revenue blames his wife for his financial predicament.

Liquidator Grant Reynolds was appointed by shareholder resolution to Yasmine Holdings on July 8.

The company’s register records Gurpreet Singh as sole director and shareholder.

The first report for Yasmine Holdings was sparse on details but showed Inland Revenue was owed $988,000 – including penalties and interest – and the only asset identified so far for recovery was $676,671 due from related-party current accounts.

Reynolds ’ report said Singh claimed he had taken steps to try to deal with his growing bill to the taxman but he ran into unforeseen problems.

“In a genuine effort to reduce the company’s outstanding tax liability, the director took the significant step of selling the family home, with the express intention that the proceeds would be applied toward payment of the core IRD debt.

“In addition, a primary company truck was sold, again with the intention that those funds would be directed to creditors,” the report said.

But then what Reynolds describes as a “critical personal financial disruption” occurred and the house and truck sales proceeds were diverted.

“The proceeds from the sale of the family home and the company truck were taken by the director’s spouse and transferred overseas. The funds, which were intended and needed to satisfy the IRD liability and other creditor obligations, were removed entirely from the director’s and the company’s reach,” the report said.

Attempts to recover the funds have proved fruitless, the report said: “The director made direct requests to the spouse for the return of those funds. Those requests were refused.”

Property records show Yasmine Holdings has been registered to a residential property in Manurewa owned by a company Singh controlled.

Bought in August 2020 for $925,000, it was sold in November 2022 for $1,230,000.

Attempts to contact Singh via phone and email were unsuccessful. His phone number has recently been posted on Facebook by someone seeking to rehome various dogs in the Auckland region.

Calls to Reynolds were met with a message that advised the liquidator was overseas until next week.

The claimed chain of events has Reynolds reporting that Singh claims to have “no assets of material value” following the truck and property sale and has been left “in a position of significant financial hardship, having lost both the family home and the business, with no resources to address the outstanding obligations”.

Reynolds said Singh also blamed a loss of customers and increases in wage, fuel and road user charges for the company’s failure.

As recently as October 2024, the property security register recorded Yasmine Holdings as having borrowings from creditors and listed nine heavy trucks as collateral.

Both the Bank of New Zealand and Heartland Bank are listed as creditors whose advances are secured over Yasmine Holdings’ vehicles.

Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting for business newspapers and national magazines.