Where has the money gone?
BY DONNA PAGE AND NEIL GOFFET
21 Aug, 2012 04:00 AM
WHEN Nathan Tinkler’s building company Bolkm recently sought contractors to work on a major overhaul of its waterfront offices, Hunter tradespeople received the news in disbelief.

“It’s like they are living in a fantasy land where they don’t have a string of unpaid bills stretching all the way across town that is really hurting people,” one sub-contractor said.

This perhaps explains why the company, led by directors Darren Williams and Jon Mead, could paint such an optimistic picture of its future.

Dozens of tradespeople and suppliers stretching from the Hunter to Queensland are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars because the builder is not fully paying its bills.

Since May, three companies have successfully taken legal action against Bolkm to recoup almost $70,000.

One of the creditors, a Queensland plumbing firm, later agreed to have its judgment set aside after Bolkm paid all outstanding debts and legal fees.

A spokesman for related company Buildev Group said earlier this month the developer was ‘‘facing challenging times’’, but had ‘‘great financial support from the Tinkler Group’’.

Recent Bolkm projects include works carried out on Mr Tinkler’s horse stud in Canungra, Queensland, to Newcastle Port Corporation’s $3.4million port centre that opened on Newcastle Harbour earlier this month.

A Port Corporation spokesman confirmed last week it was “making representations” to Bolkm following complaints from subcontractors about “non-payment of accounts”.

Mr Tinkler’s spokesman said last night the job was incomplete and ‘‘Bolkm had not been paid in full as yet’’.

The creditors are all asking one question – where did the money go?

They are also asking how a company backed by self-made mining magnate Mr Tinkler can be in such a financial state that it is unable to pay bills that start from $1200.

The mess is a long way from the 2009 Newcastle Master Builders’ Association awards when Bolkm was recognised for excellence in commercial construction for The Glass House building in Hannell Street, Wickham.

It is this Tinkler-linked building that Bolkm is planning to overhaul before it and Buildev move in.

The failure of Bolkm to pay its bills comes as Buildev was earlier this month ordered by the Supreme Court to complete a multimillion-dollar property purchase at Steel River.

Property and development company Mirvac took Buildev to court after it failed to complete its promised purchase of a block worth as much as $20million.

Mr Tinkler first bought into Buildev in 2009, is now the major shareholder and a director alongside Newcastle lawyer Aimee Hyde and general manager Andrew Dowling. In the past year Bolkm and Buildev have lost 16 staff, with two sacked, two made redundant and 12 resigning.

Newcastle building industry veteran Bob Jeffkins said there was no doubt Bolkm was in trouble.

Mr Jeffkins’s fitout company is owed $17,000 and has employed a debt collector to chase the money.

‘‘I am just glad I got it down to a relatively small amount compared to the figures they did owe us,’’ he said.

‘‘I have no interest in ever doing business with them again, there are many people owed money and it’s just not the right way to do things.’’

Creditors said phone calls and emails regarding overdue accounts were rarely answered.

Former Bolkm shareholder and construction manager Tom Elliot, who was sacked from the company in April, described the builder’s decline as “sad”.

Mr Elliot, who had a 10per cent share of Bolkm, was preparing for a courtroom battle with his former employer later this month, but the matter was settled out of court.

He said for years he enjoyed working for the company, but the charm quickly wore off when it started not paying its subcontractors more than a year ago.

‘‘Newcastle is a small town so unfortunately I still receive calls from subcontractors and consultants chasing money from Bolkm,’’ he said.

‘‘All I can do is just advise them to contact the directors of Bolkm.’’

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...px?storypage=0
Creditors hunt for millionaire’s cash
BY DONNA PAGE
21 Aug, 2012 04:00 AM
HE might be one of Australia’s richest men, but Nathan Tinkler has left a trail of debt devastating business owners from the Upper Hunter to Queensland.

The Newcastle Herald spoke to dozens of businesses chasing outstanding debts of more than $1million from Hunter-based Tinkler companies.

They are ordinary people, the majority mum-and-dad businesses, many individually owed close to $100,000.

Some have been forced to remortgage their homes, increase overdrafts or sell their cars because they have not been paid for work or goods supplied.

A spokesman for Mr Tinkler said last night creditors were paid on an ‘‘ongoing basis, as is done by all businesses’’.

The Herald reported yesterday that Mr Tinkler, the former Muswellbrook mining electrician who now lives in Singapore and who is estimated by BRW as being worth $915million, had failed to meet the superannuation payments of workers at his racing company Patinack Farm, in some instances dating back to last November last year.

Maitland building firm Fraser Commercial was placed in voluntary administration earlier this month with Newcastle building company Bolkm, the construction arm of Mr Tinkler’s Buildev Group, the main debtor.

Mitch Fraser said at one stage Bolkm owed his now defunct company more than $200,000, but he managed to get it down to $33,000.

‘‘This is just the absolute tip of the iceberg, people are too scared to speak out because they are desperately hoping to be paid eventually,’’ Mr Fraser said.

‘‘It is unbelievable that this is happening when you look at Tinkler’s high-rolling lifestyle. He bought the Knights and the Jets, but so many people can’t get paid what they are genuinely owed. It’s just wrong.’’

The Herald can reveal that in the past 10 months seven businesses have successfully taken court action to recoup more than $112,000 in outstanding debts from Bolkm and Patinack Farm.

Mr Tinkler’s spokesman said creditors were being paid and with ‘‘many commercial agreements there are disagreements from time to time’’.

With debts mounting and creditors’ calls going unanswered, angry suppliers and stores have placed stop-credit orders on the companies’ accounts.

Others have employed debt collectors and some negotiated to accept Tinkler-company assets in lieu of payment.

Debts range from $1200 to almost $100,000, with some outstanding for more than a year.

Nearly all of the businesses the Herald spoke to were paid some money initially, with the promise of the rest later.

Many even agreed to enter into payment plans allowing Mr Tinkler’s companies extra time to pay, but too often payments were not received.

Roofer Rob Atherton said that last week he was was out of pocket about $50,000 for work he did for Bolkm.

He has not paid himself for more than a month to make sure his employees’ entitlements are up-to-date.

‘‘They just keep telling you ... that it will be paid on this day and that day, it really pisses you off,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s been an absolute nightmare and a real struggle to keep our heads above water and keep going.’’

For many in the embattled building industry the penny only dropped when the dollars stopped.

‘‘They drip feed people in an effort to keep them quiet and keep things ticking over,’’ a former Tinkler employee said.

‘‘It’s the ones who scream the loudest and threaten to take it further who get paid first, it’s a terrible way of doing business. If a business cuts them off, they just move to the next supplier or subcontractor and it all starts again.’’

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...px?storypage=0
2 things have to be asked.

What the **** is going on?

and

Why is he using a queensland plumber when there are a stack of good local ones?