Lifetime ban for tyre dumper
Christchurch-based Michael Le Roy has been banned from running a business for life for repeatedly breaching restrictions imposed on him while bankrupt.
He caused significant environmental harm to an Amberley property where he stockpiled old tyres in addition to causing cause losses in the tens of thousands of dollars.
The High Court at Christchurch ordered on April 29 that Le Roy be permanently prohibited from being a director or promoter of, or in any way directly or indirectly, taking part in managing a company.
Vanessa Cook, manager of the investigations and compliance team at Business Registries, says Mr Le Roy is one of handful of serious offenders who have been banned or life from being a director.
“There is good reason for Mr Le Roy to be permanently prohibited from being involved in managing any company under section 383 of the Companies Act based on his previous convictions and the serious risk of financial harm to the public should he be allowed to carry on business activities in the future,” she adds.
“Mr Le Roy’s conduct to date is amongst the most serious of cases of this type.”
The decision comes after Mr Le Roy was sentenced to three years imprisonment in 2022 for forging documents, misleading the Official Assignee, unpaid tax deductions for three separate companies of nearly $60,000 and managing companies while bankrupt – at least the second time he had done so.
He was adjudicated bankrupt in April 2010 after his waste-disposal business went into liquidation. This led to him abandoning 500 tonnes of rubbish on a lifestyle block he was leasing costing the landowner $45,000 to remove.
Despite being adjudicated bankrupt for a second time in 2018, Mr Le Roy continued to manage companies throughout his bankruptcy and was subject to charges filed in 2020 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Inland Revenue.
Judge Neave noted at his sentencing the significant amount of loss that resulted from Le Roy’s offending. “Considerable havoc has been left in your wake,” he said.
“You ignored warnings both from MBIE and Inland Revenue. You have the previous history of bankruptcy, so you knew what your obligations were and you knew you were flagrantly in breach of those obligations.”
Prohibitions in the Companies Act are imposed to protect the public from individuals who have been unscrupulous, incompetent or irresponsible in how they have carried on business. Click here for more about banned directors.
Case details and timeline
• October 2009: Liquidation of Le Roy Investments Ltd, the company Michael Benny Le Roy used to manage his businesses. The company owed $207,568 to unsecured creditors and was removed from the Companies Register in October 2011.
• 2010: Operating a waste-disposal company that dumped rubbish on a lifestyle block that Le Roy leased. Following complaints, the lease was terminated and he left 500 tonnes of rubbish on the property.
• April 2010: Was adjudicated bankrupt and was automatically discharged on May 17, 2013.
• 2014: Incorporated Jamison Investments Ltd, which went into receivership from August 31, 2018, to October 9, 2019. Removed from the Companies Register on March 25, 2022.
• 2015: Incorporated Tyre Recycling Services NZ Ltd and arranged for a family member to be director. Removed from the Companies Register on March 25, 2022.
• 2016: Incorporated 2016 Tyre Shedding Ltd and arranged for a family member to be the director. The name was changed to Annexure Services Ltd and is not currently trading. Currently in the process of removing from the Companies Register.
• 2018: Was adjudicated bankrupt for the second time and was discharged on March 9, 2021.
• 2015-18: Owed Inland Revenue PAYE deductions of $59,876.34.
• 2018: Ordered by Environment Canterbury to remove all end-of-life tyres from a rural property in Amberley, which he did not comply with. The cost of removal was estimated by the regional council to be around $500,000. He later leased a warehouse. When he was evicted, he owed around $65,000 in lease arrears and around $134,000 bill for the owner who removed the tyres he had stored.
• 2019: Incorporated Tyre Shredding 2016 Ltd while being bankrupt and arranged for a family member to the director. Was removed from the Companies Register on September 14, 2022.
• 2020: Inland Revenue filed charges for tax evasion. MBIE filed charges for using forged documents, carrying on or taking part in management or control of any business while bankrupt and misleading the Official Assignee’s Office.
• 2022: Sentenced to three years in prison before being released on parole on September 30, 2024.
