A spokesperson for the Official Assignee – managing both the liquidations and the bankruptcy – said it did not know what had happened to the reported gold. That year, Gurukirpa claimed to be owed $1.4m by IRD, and a further $165,700 was recorded as a new asset listed as “investment – gold”. A spreadsheet attached to the claim, covering tax claimed since June 2019, showed a quarter of the total was made up of interest, and a tenth was penalties. Tax payments by Saran over the period totalled just $74,488, or 0.15% of the amount IRD claimed was now due. In June 2025, the most recent date for which figures are available, the department reported $9.3 billion in tax was owing.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 14, 2026 00:01 UTC