Unexplained costs and frozen assets sold: Receivers investigating jailed US fraudster

Receivers are investigating why a jailed former New York Property developer turned vineyard owner spent large sums of money on shipping about the same time he admitted committing $1.3 million of tax fraud.

Colin David Rath, 60, operated Waipara Winds Limited, a vineyard and restaurant that traded as Fiddler’s Green.

Under Rath, the Canterbury company amassed significant debt of between $2.2m and $4.2m, according to the first receivers’ report in May.

All assets at the vineyard have been frozen by a court order since November 2021, but receivers reported some were sold after that date. Some of the cash for those assets went into the company’s account, but others were paid to related parties’ accounts.

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There’s also no explanation as to why the company paid a large amount of shipping costs for shipping containers in late 2022. Receivers are attempting to find out what was inside the containers but said they could not talk about their investigation.

Have you had financial dealings with Colin Rath? Do you know more? Email Nadine Roberts confidentially.

A vehicle was also transferred from Waipara Winds to a relative of Rath because he claimed it was never owned by the company. He then said the vehicle was a gift to the relative. However, receivers said his claims did not align with information held.

Mortgage company Vulcan Mortgage Ltd issued a public notice this week stating it has taken possession of the 246 Georges Rd, Waipara property, including all chattels, buildings and land.

Rath, his wife Pamela, and their children arrived in Auckland in 2016 on a luxury $950,000 yacht after he was granted an entrepreneur work visa to set up the North Canterbury winery and two other companies.

To gain the visa, Rath had to have $100,000 to invest, a business plan, and be able to claim 120 points on the immigration points scale.

He pleaded guilty to forging at least 14 documents to get his entrepreneur residency last December – the same time he pleaded guilty to the tax fraud.

The Overseas Investment Commission granted Rath consent to buy a 28-hectare property in 2018. Stuff has seen a heavily redacted report from Land Information New Zealand on the decision, which was released under the Official Information Act.

Much of the section about Rath’s good character was redacted, although the report says he provided statutory declarations stating he was of good character, had not committed an offence or contravened and knew of no matter that reflected adversely on his fitness to have the vineyard.

“We have also conducted open source background checks on Mr Rath,” the report states.

Stuff is appealing to the Chief Ombudsman to see the redacted passages and has asked the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for all documentation regarding Rath’s visa application.

Rath claimed he was a successful New York property developer after his involvement with two Manhattan apartment buildings in 2006 and 2007. He self-published a book about his experience.

However, Rath got into significant debt with several banks while in New York. It’s unclear how much he owed when he left the United States.

Rath eventually pleaded guilty to 39 counts of dishonestly using GST returns for financial advantage and was sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment.

An Inland Revenue investigation revealed he claimed $1.5m using 85 falsified documents from 2017 to 2021. He was given $1.3m.

Evidence showed that over a sustained period, Rath deliberately doctored documents and tried to impede Inland Revenue officers while they investigated him. On one occasion, he met them at a neighbouring business and tried to convince them it was his business.

A day after Inland Revenue began auditing Waipara Winds following a fraud investigation, Rath took two investigators for a tour of the winery, including the subdivision build he was claiming GST on.

He took them to what he called a “spec house” and told them they could look through the windows. It was not his property.

The owner was not aware of Inland Revenue’s visit and confirmed he had not given permission for Rath to take them through the house.

The building company named on the contract for the “spec house” confirmed it had not built it.

With each false GST return, Rath filed fake payment schedules, a doctored USA bank account, altered and forged invoices, the summary said.

On its website, Immigration New Zealand states it is standard practice to deport people who commit serious offences after they have served their prison term.