Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.

- Laurence J Peter
 

PO Box 6741
Wellington

23 May 1999

Neville Harris
Registrar of Companies
C/O Companies Office
Private Bag 5901
Lambton Quay Post Office
Wellington 6030

Dear Mr Harris

REQUEST TO RETAIN ON THE REGISTER THOSE COMPANIES RELATED TO THE FLAT ROCK FORESTS TRUST

As per a public notice placed in the 29 April 1999 Dominion by Gary Traveller, PricewaterhouseCoopers liquidator, I am writing to request that several companies not be removed from the Companies Office Register.  These companies include:

	Clearwood Holdings Limited
	Kai Iwi Forests Limited
	Kenilworth Forests Limited
	Lake Alice Forest Limited
	Medlicott Forest Limited
	Rangitumau Forest Limited
	Waimea Holdings Limited

I am a unitholder in Flat Rock Forests Trust.  Some months ago, I discovered what I believe to be evidence of impropriety in the management of this Trust.  My husband and I have turned this evidence over to the Serious Fraud Office who have been investigating the Trust and its activities for the past several months.  We intend to join with other unitholders in a suit against both the Trust manager and Trustee, but we have temporarily suspended our activities to allow the SFO to gather what data they need unimpeded.

Unfortunately, I am a fairly recent immigrant and am still learning how things work legally here.  I was unaware that a company could be removed from the register, allowing the records to be destroyed, while a criminal investigation was underway.  I hope by stepping aside to allow the SFO to investigate, we haven’t missed access to what may prove useful documents through destruction of "useless" records.

Other companies in which I am interested are included in the table attached.  Some of these companies may already have been archived and records lost.  If not, I am requesting that they not be removed from the register until I and the other unitholders have had a chance to discover whether or not they contain information pertinent to our case.  I believe that should take no longer than the end of the year.

Is this a reasonable request?

Also, in the course of my investigations at the Companies Office, I have run across at least two companies whose previous names no longer appear on the computer.  Is this a common occurrence or are these rare errors?  As you might suspect, it makes investigating records more difficult.  Also, the public notice stated these companies were all in liquidation when, for some, the Companies Office records say receivership.  Is the distinction unimportant in this context?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Ruth Hatch

Also:

FLAT ROCK FORESTS TRUST

NEW ZEALAND DEVELOPMENT TRUSTS

NEW ZEALAND FORESTS TRUST

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For news articles on the Flat Rock Forests Trust, forestry, the Serious Fraud Office, one immigrant family's experiences, immigration specialists, fraud, juries, logging, and more, check out the News Table of Contents.  Or you may wish to visit the Forestry Trust Table of Contents to read how a unit trust went bust.  Or the Topics Table of Contents which offers a different approach to lots of topics - among them poisonous insects, eating dogs, what's addictive, training vs teaching, tornados, unusual flying machines, humour, wearable computers, IQ tests, health, Y chromosomes, share options, New Jersey's positive side, oddities, ageing, burial alternatives, capital punishment, affairs, poverty, McCarthyism, the most beautiful city in the world, neverending work and more...