Kelt given 24 hours to reach IRD deal

Napier merchant banker Sam Kelt's company Kelt Capital has been given one more day to reach a debt repayment agreement with the Inland Revenue Department before the company is put into liquidation.

According to a Statement of Claim filed with the High Court in Napier in September, the company owed $254,277.15 comprising $240,960.53 in unpaid GST, penalties and interest; $13,016.62 in fringe benefit tax and interest; and a 300 income tax penalty.

The High Court at Napier today  heard that amount had now increased to $335,160.65.

Kelt Capital's lawyer Nick Russell asked for a short adjournment which was opposed by the IRD. The company was given until 1pm tomorrow to reach an agreement on how begin repaying the debt.

Associate Judge David Gendall acknowledged that recently there had been a ``flurry of activity on the part of the parties by way of an offer and counter offer,'' and was prepared to give the company ``one last chance'' to resolve the issue before liquidation.

Mr Kelt is best known in Hawke's Bay for his and the company's successful support of major sports. A long-standing
Hawke's Bay feature horse race which for most of its history had stakes well under $100,000 was rebranded as the Kelt Capital Stakes and became the richest sports event in New Zealand, with purses hitting a peak of $2 million.

Another mission was a makeover for the New Zealand Horse of the Year Show, now based in Hastings, regarded as the biggest equestrian show in the Southern Hemisphere, and also a $1 million-plus event.

Kelt Capital was also the backer of the Hawke's Bay Magpies when they returned to the first division of NPC rugby
and soon reached the semi-finals of the Air New Zealand Cup, and it has also been behind a national hockey academy.

But he has also become known for a series of scrapes with the law, dating back to 2004 when he was fined $1200
and disqualified from driving for six months after being apprehended for drink-driving as he left the New Year's Day races in Hastings.

He was later discharged without conviction on a charge of assault stemming from a brush with the manager
of a Havelock North bar in December 2008, and copped two disorderly behaviour convictions, for the late-night kicking of a passing car in central Hastings in 2009 and for incidents after he was ordered out of a Taupo
bar last year.

He was also the victim of an early-morning street assault in Tauranga in July 2006.