A foreign sales agent allegedly involved is also in hot water over Liberian forestry interests
The strange and protracted story of the Tauranga business being chased for $39 million by some of the world’s biggest shipping firms looks to be coming to a close as it moves into liquidation.
TPT Shipping, which provided sales, marketing and shipping for major New Zealand forest owners, had been under a deed of company arrangement for two years following a missing shipment of logs that resulted in ship arrests in New Zealand and Singapore.
In its two years under a deed of company arrangement with shipping lines Berge Bulk, Cargill Ocean Transport, Yangtze Navigation, The China Navigation Co, and Pacific Basin Supreme TPT Shipping just over $1m of the original $39m sought was paid out.
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That $39m included contingent liabilities of $28m.
According to administrator-turned-liquidator Jared Booth of Baker Tilly Staples Rodway, the deed was only ever intended to last two years.
The liquidators were appointed on April 13.
The trouble began over the alleged misdelivery of a shipment of logs through its sales agent Amrose Singapore (and subsidiaries), headed up by businessman Mukesh Gupta.
It is understood the logs were intended for India and were already paid for but were instead taken to China.
The resulting ship arrests in September 2020 were for vessels that had carried shipments for TPT in the past 12 months.
The Navios Koyo was arrested on September 17 in Singapore, while the TS Index was arrested in Wellington and the Xing Zhi Hai was arrested in Nelson on September 25.
An arrest prevents the ship from leaving port until a security payment is made.
The ships weren’t carrying cargo related to TPT at the time.
According to the first administrator's report released in early 2021, TPT directors Willem Abelskamp, Gavin Feast and Jason Smith said they had no knowledge of any misdelivery and had no problems with Amrose/Gupta in the 12 years the two companies had been working together.
Gupta had worked with the directors of TPT Shipping at the now shut-down Fletcher Challenge Forests.
TPT’s directors had taken legal advice about potential action against Gupta’s companies but went into administration before anything could happen.
Further legal action was a possibility under the deed of company arrangement with a creditor committee set up with the ability to fund potential legal claims, with Gupta’s companies and TPT entities potential targets.
The liquidators wouldn’t say if any legal action took place at this stage.
Liberia
While Gupta’s businesses that dealt with TPT were operated out of Singapore, his family has also attracted negative media attention over its forestry activities in Liberia, West Africa.
In 2022, The DayLight, a non-profit environmental news outlet following the extractive sector in Liberia, accused companies associated with Mukesh Gupta of harvesting outside of its forestry concessions and abandoning logs.
Legislation aimed at encouraging sustainable forestry practices in Liberia carries a fine of three times the international sale price of logs if they are abandoned.
The DayLight believed this could translate to millions of US dollars if enforced.
Earlier media reports also alleged that Gupta-linked companies hadn’t made good on commitments to develop infrastructure for Liberian communities in exchange for substantial logging permits.
