{"id":282937,"date":"2026-02-13T23:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282937\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T23:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:16:07","slug":"drury-mega-property-subdivision-collapses-after-police-meth-money-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282937\/","title":{"rendered":"Drury mega property subdivision collapses after police meth money probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
Police said the orders were sought after an investigation into the case of a man dying in early 2023 after he unknowingly consumed meth-tainted beer branded \u201cHoney Bear\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mega Capital Group was placed into liquidation in December after an application by the Auckland Council seeking overdue rates and resource consent fees.<\/p>\n
The first liquidators\u2019 report by Keaton Pronk and Steve Farquhar of McDonald Vague flagged $8m in creditors but noted this total was incomplete. <\/p>\n
The company\u2019s main asset \u2013 the land in Drury \u2013 was said to now have a rateable valuation of only $18m.<\/p>\n
Preferential and unsecured creditors were told in the report that they \u201cmay recover 0c in the dollar\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mega Capital\u2019s website had promised the property would be subdivided as the \u201cTaimana Estate Development\u201d to \u201ccomprise 176 sections in one of the fastest-growing areas of greater Auckland\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will feature modern infrastructure and services \u2013 including upgraded transport with rail facilities, fibre networks, potable water, and wastewater systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the development ran into trouble even before settling. A 2023 High Court ruling records Mega Capital expected the project would ultimately be worth $95m, but was still scrambling to sort finance to complete the purchase after paying the deposit.<\/p>\n
Mega Capital\u2019s sole director and shareholder, Ajaypal Singh, approached Pearlfisher Capital in June 2022 for a short-notice loan. By the following month, terms were agreed for a $10m advance, and contracts were signed.<\/p>\n
But at the end of July, Singh elected not to proceed with that loan, because he said the company had secured alternative financing.<\/p>\n
Pearlfisher sued for contractually agreed-upon fees, ultimately securing a caveat across the property relating to the $627,699 it sought.<\/p>\n
The liquidators\u2019 report records the caveat remains in place, and Pearlfisher remains a creditor.<\/p>\n
After that court ruling, Mega Capital listed the undivided land for resale in mid-2023, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to extract itself from its growing problems.<\/p>\n
Ajaypal Singh, Mega Capital’s sole director, says the fallout from the soured property deal and the police freezing order has left him with nothing.<\/p>\n
Singh, also known as Ajay Bal, told the Herald the development was first caught out by a property market slide, then crippled by the police freezing order.<\/p>\n
Liquidators report Singh has been assisting them with their inquiries.<\/p>\n
Singh is not named as a respondent to the freezing order and said he was holding some Mega Capital shares on trust for others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had two investors in there. One investor, I don\u2019t know what they were doing, how the money was coming in. I\u2019m still not sure, because the criminal proceedings have not concluded yet. Yeah, so we don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just assuming that that\u2019s why they restrained the property,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Singh is a businessman and former immigration consultant who is behind the Indian confectionery franchise Novelty Sweets and is listed as vice-president of the Indian Global Business Chamber (IGBC).<\/p>\n
His profile on the IGBC site quotes him as saying: \u201cInfuse your life with action. Don\u2019t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singh said the development \u2013 both the teetering property deal and the fallout from the drug case \u2013 had been personally devastating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe detectives have given me a clean sheet on that, and I have been a victim of this. I\u2019ve lost everything in this property deal. I\u2019ve lost my house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Property records show Singh\u2019s primary residence in Alfriston was sold late last year by mortgagee auction for $2.3m. Five years earlier, he had paid $3.6m to acquire it.<\/p>\n
Singh acknowledges the losses from Mega Capital would likely be significant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, the losses are huge. We\u2019re talking about in the vicinity of about $10 million,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This expected deficit will likely see police left with nothing to show for their restraining order.<\/p>\n
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter and ICIJ member covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism \u2013 including twice being named Reporter of the Year \u2013 and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting for business newspapers and national magazines.<\/p>\n