Dunedin businessman and JP Stephen Beeby is preparing to take a former business partner to court, alleging defamation and breach of contract.
The Otago Daily Times has a copy of what it understands to be the allegations made against Mr Beeby. They are lengthy and have been made anonymously.
Mr Beeby and his wife are 100% shareholders of company Groundwork Group INT, which in turn has been a 50% shareholder in Whitestone Post, whose other 25% shareholders (each) have been Murray and Elizabeth Bell, of Oamaru.
The allegations relate to business transactions made throughout the year.
Whitestone Post started as a postal service in Oamaru in 2014, using Whitestone Taxis for deliveries during down time, which Mr Bell and his wife were managing, and it has since expanded with franchises in Central Otago.
Mr Beeby came on board as 50% Whitestone Post shareholder earlier this year.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Bell said he was aware of the allegations, but when asked if he was responsible for them, said he was "not prepared to say".
Attempts were made to contact Mr Beeby. His public relations advocate, Michael Laws, subsequently contacted the ODT.
Mr Laws said Mr Beeby’s Dunedin lawyer was preparing to serve papers on the Bells alleging defamation over the allegations, and also alleging "breach of contract" in Mr Bell having made no payments to Mr Beeby in recent months as a franchise operator.
Mr Laws said the actions would be filed in the civil and commercial courts, possibly by the end of this week.
"Over recent weeks, he [Mr Beeby]has been the victim of outrageous behaviour from unprofessional parties that include breaches of privacy and the publishing of untrue and defamatory allegations," Mr Laws said.
He was asked, given Mr Beeby is a JP, whether he would have to step back from that position.
Mr Laws said Mr Beeby had been in contact with the Justices of the Peace Association, which decided he did not have to step down, given the intended proceedings were to be in civil and commercial courts.
Mr Bell was contacted a second time and told about the pending court action, which he said he was not aware of. When asked again about the allegations, he said it "had nothing to do with me".
The allegations included a claim operations had been transferred to a new company, Whitestone Post NZ, which Companies Office records show was incorporated on November 9 this year.
The new company, Whitestone Post NZ, has one North Island director and is otherwise 100% owned by Central Post Services Ltd. The Companies Office records of Whitestone Post have not been amended. Mr Beeby, the Bells and another Dunedin man are still the company directors, and the respective share allocations are unchanged.
However, Mr Laws said that as at April 12, Mr Beeby’s company, Groundwork Group INT, had bought the remaining 50% share of Whitestone Post from Mr Bell, but this has not yet been formally recorded by the Companies Office.
Mr Laws said there was also a separate issue of a group seeking to misappropriate Whitestone Post’s logo, which would "have their commercial consequences in another forum".
