The liquidators of the failed construction firm Mainzeal are fighting back against the directors again, seeking double the initial payments ordered by the court.
Photo: RNZ / 123RF
Insolvency practitioner at the firm BDO, Andrew Bethell, said he had filed a counterclaim, seeking about $73 million from Mainzeal's directors, including the former prime minister Dame Jenny Shipley.
Dame Jenny and three other former Mainzeal directors were found liable for its insolvency in the High Court at Auckland earlier this year, and were ordered to pay a collective $36m.
They appealed the judgement last month.
The liquidators' counterclaim, filed in the Court of Appeal today, said the High Court was wrong to find that the directors breach of their duties did not qualify for the full compensation of creditors, and that it did not add six years' worth of interest to the payments ordered.
They decided on the $73.3m, because that was two thirds of the $110m owed to creditors at the time Mainzeal collapsed in 2013.