In a previous post , we looked briefly at NZ companies that have now, or have ever had, “Bancorp” in their name, uncovering a rich vein of seediness. Filter out the more-or-less legit-looking companies and the more-or-less dodgy ones that I wrote about then, and there’s more. There always seems to be more.
One way in is via the shelf company 2321568 Limited , formerly known as First European Bancorp Limited. It is wholly owned by NZ Invest & Holding Group Limited , which has as director Michael Franz, of Suite 606, Regent House, 24/25 Nutford Place London. That’s pretty improbable. That’s a serviced office address, not a residential one. The NZ Companies Office Application for Registration specifically requires the residential address of company directors. On the face of it, that address cannot be right, and one notes Para 1, Section 377 of the Companies Act :
377 False statements
- (1) Every person who, with respect to a document required by or for the purposes of this Act,—
- (a) makes, or authorises the making of, a statement in it that is false or misleading in a material particular knowing it to be false or misleading; or
- (b) omits, or authorises the omission from it of, any matter knowing that the omission makes the document false or misleading in a material particular—
commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to the penalties set out in section 373(4) .
Well I imagine directors do tend to know where they live; so I suspect giving a serviced office address as your home address probably is knowingly misleading. Did NZ Companies House query that address? Do they not feel responsible enough for the integrity and truthfulness of the information on their register to feel like doing any basic checks? One suspects not, and the doubts accumulate as