district court logo

R v Bayne [2020] NZDC 10017

Published 29 June 2022

Sentencing — misleading the Official Assignee — managing a business while an undischarged bankrupt — concealing property from the Official Assignee — concrete business — Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v Coupe [2016] NZDC 15790. The defendant appeared for sentence on charges of misleading the Official Assignee (representative), managing a business while an undischarged bankrupt, and concealing property from the Official Assignee. He had run a concreting business after being declared bankrupt, and had attempted to conceal the business from the Official Assignee. The defendant's motivation was to avoid repaying his creditors, and he succeeded in accumulating $650,000 over a two-year period. The offending came to light via media reports of customer complaints over the poor quality of the defendant's concreting work. The Court set a start point for sentence of three and a half years' imprisonment, with a four-month uplift for repeat offending. The defendant was allowed discounts for his age, poor health and belated guilty plea. The final sentence was two and a half years' imprisonment on the concealment charges and 12 months' imprisonment on each of the remaining charges, to be served concurrently. Judgment Date: 3 June 2020