ANZ exposed again: mansion bought at a premium, then sold to the “boss’s” wife for $4,000,000 below valuation!
John Key is caught up in controversy again!
The NZ Herald dropped a bombshell over the weekend!
A Terranet report shows that in 2011, ANZ New Zealand subsidiary Arawata Assets bought a mansion in Auckland’s St Heliers for NZ$7,500,000.
The mansion at 269 St Heliers Bay Rd
Auckland’s property market boomed over the following 6 years.
By 1 July 2017, the valuation of the mansion at 269 St Heliers Bay Rd had climbed to NZ$10,750,000.
Yet in July 2017, the property was sold for NZ$6,900,000 to Deborah Veronica Walsh, wife of ANZ New Zealand’s then chief executive David Hisco.
That price was almost $4,000,000 below valuation and $600,000 below the original purchase price.
A price in 2017 lower than in 2011, and it was not even a leaky home — what extraordinary luck!
David Hisco abruptly resigned on 17 June this year
David Hisco, chief executive of New Zealand’s largest bank, ANZ, abruptly resigned on 17 June after 9 years in the role.
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The board had said this was for health reasons. But last week, ANZ chairman John Key said Hisco’s resignation followed issues identified in an audit of his personal expenses. Hisco allegedly charged “thousands upon thousands” of dollars in personal spending to the company, including use of a chauffeur-driven company car and wine storage in Australia.
The mansion at 269 St Heliers Bay Rd
Now media revelations that David Hisco’s wife bought a mansion held by a subsidiary for far below its market valuation have inevitably raised further questions.
Companies Office records show that Hisco’s successor, ANZ’s current acting chief executive Antonia Watson, was a director of Arawata Assets when the St Heliers mansion was sold.
So did Antonia Watson know that her former boss had bought the company’s mansion at a bargain price?
The mansion at 269 St Heliers Bay Rd
Is John Key caught up in controversy again?
Speaking about David Hisco’s departure at an ANZ press conference, New Zealanders’ once-beloved prime minister John Key said indignantly: “I am disappointed that David is leaving ANZ under these circumstances... No matter how senior or junior someone’s position, when something like this happens, their departure is warranted.”
However, according to the NZ Herald, John Key’s ties to the departing David Hisco extend beyond business.
Last year, John Key sold his beachfront holiday home at Omaha, north of Auckland, to Hisco for NZ$3,650,000. But Key said the transaction was not part of the internal review of personal expenses that led to Hisco’s departure.
Throughout his life, John Key has navigated politics and business with decisive judgement and a keen eye.
He just keeps selling his houses to the wrong people.
During the 2017 election campaign, foreign buyers in the property market were under constant scrutiny from the media and opposition parties.
John Key had barely handed the prime ministership to his good mate Bill English before turning around and selling his house to Chinese buyers!