“It has been very stressful for me and my family,” Singh said, through an interpreter.
Gurukirpa Contracting owed $9,411,130 in unpaid tax, according to the final liquidation report filed by the Official Assignee in December.
In response, Singh failed to file the company’s statement of affairs and the business was liquidated without any assets being discovered to repay the tax debt.
Singh now faces the possibility of being banned as a company director.
As the director of at least two companies that have failed in the past five years, Singh will be referred to the director prohibition team for “consideration of disqualification”, according to James Betton of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE).
The liquidation of Saran Contracting Ltd is ongoing.
The first liquidation report filed by the Official Assignee in December indicated $48,017,782 is owed to Inland Revenue.
“The liquidator is conducting searches and investigations to locate any assets of value that can be realised for the benefit of creditors,” Betton said.
The next liquidator’s report is due in June.
By comparison, a previous Herald survey of insolvencies in late 2025 seeking to find the largest liquidations by creditor claims had placed the Hobson Green Group – owing $31.5m – as the largest of the year.
A spokesperson for Inland Revenue did not respond to a request for comment.
But the Herald can reveal the Inland Revenue investigation into the alleged $57m of unpaid tax was prompted by Zespri, which sells billions of dollars of kiwifruit globally on behalf of New Zealand growers.
The company uses specialist investigators to find evidence of labour exploitation, such as illegal migrants being paid under the table with cash to avoid tax, with alleged offenders blacklisted from the industry.
To prevent poor practices in the first place, kiwifruit growers must be certified with an internationally recognised system for worker safety, health and welfare, as well as comply with Zespri‘s code of conduct.
Any contractors wishing to work on orchards go through a vetting process conducted by an investigation consultancy, AIM CRI, and also hold a compliance assessment verification (CAV).
To get a CAV, contractors must show they have the appropriate systems in place and are inspected by Zespri every year.
A list of contractors who have had their CAV suspended or terminated is published so growers know who can be hired.
A spokesperson for Zespri confirmed that Saran Contracting and Gurukirpa Contracting had their CAV suspended in April 2022 following an investigation which identified a “wide range of non-compliance”.
The Zespri report into both companies run by Singh was then referred to three different enforcement agencies: New Zealand Police, Immigration New Zealand and Inland Revenue.
However, the police and immigration officials decided to leave any investigation to Inland Revenue as the “most appropriate avenue to address the primary offending” that had been alleged.
Through an interpreter, Ajaypal Singh said that he believed the CAV accreditations for his companies were suspended in 2022 because of complaints from orchard owners about the quality of the work by the hired labourers.
Because the companies could no longer generate revenue, Singh claimed that Inland Revenue, in fact, owed his two businesses nearly $5m in tax refunds.
He also claimed about $15m in unpaid taxes attributed to his businesses was in fact owed by subcontractors who provided labour on behalf of the Saran and Gurukirpa companies.
Singh said he provided financial statements, invoices and timesheets to Inland Revenue but his argument was rejected.
He wanted to dispute the tax bill in court but said he could not afford to hire lawyers to take on Inland Revenue.
As a result of losing his income, Singh said that he was forced to sell his home and is now an undischarged bankrupt.
“I have no job or work … I am on the benefit now.”
The wider issue of cash wages in NZ
Zespri is believed to be the only corporate entity in New Zealand to vet the supply chain and investigate allegations of labour exploitation.
But industries such as horticulture, construction and hospitality have been labelled “high risk” for money laundering and should be banned from paying wages in cash, according to an expert panel advising the Government on organised crime.
Cabinet Minister Casey Costello has been driving the Government’s response to organised crime and wants more effective sharing of information between agencies. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“Payment of wages with cash is common in a range of industries – usually increasing the risks of tax evasion and exploitation of migrants and other vulnerable workers,” according to the advisory group’s report to Cabinet Minister Casey Costello last May.
“Numerous countries have introduced statutory requirements to ensure that wage payments are made through verifiable, electronic means, to enhance compliance and combat financial misconduct.”
Similarly, Costello would also like to stop payments being made in cash to certain professions like lawyers and immigration consultants.
Government agencies not only had to improve information-sharing and collaboration to identify organised crime, Costello previously told the Herald, but also to “connect up the approach” to investigations and prosecutions.
“To achieve this, we need to be very clear that our priority is not only delivering protections against exploitation, but holding perpetrators accountable,” Costello said.
“This will require bold initiatives as well as better public awareness of the reality of exploitation in New Zealand.”
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.