Importer ordered to pay $1m

The former director of a car-importing business has been ordered by the High Court to pay more than $1 million after his company fell into liquidation.

Yujiro Fujisawa formed Callin Auto New Zealand Ltd in 2012 but proceedings to wind it up began in 2022 after liquidators said it was “loss-making from its inception, except for one year, as it did not sell the vehicles with a margin that ensured it covered all its costs”.

The company was established as an offshoot of Callin Auto Co Ltd, which is based in Japan.

Fujisawa was the sole director of the New Zealand operation but the firm accumulated a $1m-plus debt while he spent $255,000 on golf, restaurants and entertainment, reports Stuff.

He held nine per cent of shares in Callin Auto NZ, which operated out of a warehouse in Petone, Wellington, with Callin Japan’s owner, Kazuhiro Sakuma, in control of the remaining 91 per cent.

Callin Auto NZ initially bought used cars from the Japanese business at cost price, but a liquidators’ report notes this changed to market price in July 2014, after which “the relationship between the director and the majority shareholder deteriorated”.

In the 2017 financial year, the New Zealand company failed to pay for a significant number of vehicles purchased from Callin Auto Co.

Fujisawa notified Callin Auto Co he was resigning in September 2020 and after failing to meet requests to supply his company’s banking records, the Japanese business appointed liquidators to Callin Auto NZ in September 2022.

The former director was then taken to the High Court by liquidators over the matter and the application was heard by Justice David Johnstone in February.

In his recently released decision, Justice Johnstone said Fujisawa had run the business in a manner that was likely to create a substantial risk of loss to its creditors, reports Stuff.

He ordered Fujisawa to pay the liquidators $1,013,774, plus any interest that accrues from February and costs.