Erin Cox reports on unbridled dysfunction behind the scenes at an Octagon bar.
At the peak of its popularity in 2022, the queue outside Eleven Bar snaked down Stuart St in the early hours of the morning.
Now, after months of turmoil and regulatory proceedings, the doors are shut, the totality of the directors’ ineptitude laid bare — or so it seemed.
Eleven Bar company directors Prakash Khattri, Nikesh Singh and Naveen Malhotra faced the District Licensing Committee (DLC) earlier this year, their application for renewal stringently opposed by police, Te Whatu Ora and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
But it may not be the end of the directors’ woes.
Alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Steven Jones has revealed there are a number of ongoing police investigations related to Eleven Bar.
"Police have a continued concern with the premise."
While witness testimony heard by the DLC shed light on what went on behind closed doors, the Otago Daily Times has uncovered further, wide-reaching allegations.
Sarah*, a former Eleven Bar employee, shared her experiences with the ODT, signing an affidavit detailing the illegal behaviour at the controversial bar.
During summer in 2022, Sarah was on a split shift — working day and night, with a short break in between. On her afternoon break, she was summoned by one of the owners — Mr Malhotra.
He told Sarah there were no cameras in the office and pointed to the desk where a white substance had been arranged into two neat lines.
Looking her in the eye and gesturing to the desk, Mr Malhotra asked: "Do you want your job?"
Unsure what to do and not knowing what the powder was, Sarah consumed the mystery substance.
"I felt like I was going to get fired if I didn’t do it," she said.
An hour or so later, she felt ill and needed to go home.
Eleven Bar’s company directors vehemently denied consuming or providing any mind-altering substances, but statements from ex-staff members suggested otherwise.
"I witnessed them doing drugs on the job, all the time. They blacked out all the upstairs windows. They weren’t actually allowed to do that because you need to be able to see into the bar. But they would sit at a table behind a blind and do lines during the middle of the day," Sarah said.
"They would use a code word — they would just say ‘Where is the packet?’. That would be the code word to go up to the office.
"It was out of control. It was just such a toxic environment to work in. You can’t really contain your customers when your boss is out of control."
Former Eleven bartender Amy* was also offered drugs by one of the owners when she was working.
"They were like ‘do you want to come out to the office space and have a bump?’, and that was in the middle of the work night."
Amy worked at Eleven between November 2021 and May 2022, saying the drug use became more noticeable over time.
Mr Singh hit back at the allegations.
"I have never witnessed anyone using drugs at Eleven.
"Yes, I did try recreational drugs as a youngster ... I did. I think most people did. But I’m an adult, I don’t do those things. I’ve got a job to protect. I don’t mind doing a drug test for anybody. I’m free, I’m clean."
On St Patrick’s Day 2022, a group of inebriated women were asked to hand over their phones before being led upstairs by Mr Singh.
The women inquired about the blinds and were informed they were closed to avoid watchful eyes observing the bar’s Covid-19 compliance.
When approached with concerns over instances of sexual harassment at the bar, one of the owners allegedly brushed it off.
Sarah told the ODT of one night when a well-known Dunedin entrepreneur approached a staff member, cornering her and harassing her in front of other staff.
Staff notified Mr Malhotra of the harassment.
He said it was fine, as the man was a regular customer and spent a lot of money at the bar.
"I had continuous sexual harassment ... every time we tried to bring something up with him, we were gaslit about it."
Staff became suspicious while conducting routine bathroom checks — regularly finding young women passed out on the floor.
"We’ve called taxis, we’ve called ambulances for people; it’s like most of these people shouldn’t even be coming through the door. I was checking the bathrooms every 10 minutes. I was like, what are we missing here? I was always met with the phrase of ‘don’t worry about it’," former Eleven worker Amy said.
Sarah spoke of the resistance she met when attempting to come to a customer’s aid while working a night shift in 2022.
When informing her boss there was a woman on the floor who needed help, she was told not to call an ambulance.
"I helped carry her down the stairs, she was outside for maybe 15 minutes while I was getting her water. The whole time Nikesh and Naveen were saying ‘she is fine, she is fine’ and telling me not to call an ambulance.
"She was in and out of consciousness, constantly vomiting up just bubbles."
Sarah and a security guard called an ambulance.
"After my shift I got pulled aside. They said I was not doing as I was told and that I should have listened to them.
"They made me feel like I had stepped out of line but I was just very concerned for the young girl."
Mr Singh responded to the allegations: "It’s hard to say there was regular occurrences of predatory behaviour because we have had a lot of students attend the bar and we had a lot of regular customers.
"You know if the bar was known to be a place where predators frequented, a lot of those young people wouldn’t come back."
Controversial evidence from the DLC hearing remains suppressed, including further details about what happened upstairs.
Amy said her growing concerns for the wellbeing of staff and young patrons led her to abandon her employment.
"I just wanted to protect people," she said. "It felt bad, morally, to be there."
The DLC spent a significant chunk of the hearing addressing allegations of staff drinking on site after-hours or during their shift.
Hospitality professional Dave*, who has more than 30 years’ experience and briefly worked at Eleven Bar, described his first meeting with Mr Malhotra at his — now permanently closed — Mornington restaurant Indian Twist.
"I realised early on at this meeting that this group had no idea how to run a safe licensed premises. This was indicated by the fact that they were helping themselves to alcohol from behind the bar and there was no active duty manager present at the time of the meeting.
"They almost had the opinion that they’ll do whatever they want, f... the consequences."
At 1.30am on July 16, 2022, a constable from the alcohol prevention team entered the premises to find a group of 10 males loitering in the corner.
She was immediately approached by a large man "with his arms crossed to intimidate us" as the rest of the group made a hasty exit, two of them covering their faces as they walked out.
The pseudo-bouncer tried to block the officer from speaking to Mr Singh, who was duty manager at the time, but eventually relented.
Mr Singh told police the man was not head of security as he had suggested and was simply trying to get a job at the bar.
Under oath, ex-staff members shared their firsthand accounts of company directors drinking at the establishment after hours and flouting regulations designed to keep customers safe.
"I experienced the partners using the premises as their own drinking hole. Almost every Monday I would come to work and find evidence that they had been on site drinking from the night before," Dave said.
These allegations were echoed by numerous staff members along with tales of after-parties at an owner’s private residence.
A police witness said during a routine check of Eleven Bar, it appeared the owner was "quickly telling his bar staff to stop serving alcohol to patrons that appeared intoxicated and security were seen escorting patrons out of the bar before police could speak to them".
During the DLC hearing, Mr Malhotra and Mr Singh denied any drug use, extended "staffies" or having high levels of intoxication at the bar.
This was backed up by an ex-security member, DJ and regular patron who said instances of intoxication were rare.
More than five ex-staff members, who wished to remain anonymous, told the ODT they did not feel safe working at Eleven Bar.
Attempting to create a positive work environment, in 2022 staff organised a group meeting to try to problem-solve their way out of the chaos.
"There was one weekend where us employees decided to have a very nice, casual meeting about how we could improve the environment at work. Two days later we got a very angry message from Naveen accusing us of going behind his back," Sarah said.
"Our group chat got deleted. He said we were no longer allowed to communicate [among] ourselves about work."
Covid-19 breaches, limited security and dangerous situations pushed many staff over the edge and in mid 2022, a staff walk-out was orchestrated.
"I had to leave because I could see it was getting worse and worse. I had to get out of there, it was a very bad place," Sarah said.
Dave said the problems began when the bar deviated from its initial marketing strategy of operating as "an over-25 market; sports bar downstairs, with the restaurant being the engine".
"It was never intended to be a nightclub, it was never targeted at students. If you go after the student dollar you will go broke."
Unpaid bills were mounting and staff were left without wages, with senior management stepping in to pay staff.
"Just because you have a line outside, doesn’t mean you are making any f...ing money. It was never meant to be that way. I was like, if that’s the way you guys want to run it, then I don’t want any part of it," the ex-staffer said.
Dave left Eleven in January 2022 and things quickly fell further into disarray.
Attempting to complete Eleven Bar’s food control plan the following month, a Dunedin City Council environmental health officer notified Mr Malhotra additional documentation was required by March 2022.
Four emails, two phone calls and three debtor letters later, there was still no response. Upon visiting the bar to gather the required information, the officer informed the head chef of the outstanding verification fees.
"No surprise there, join the queue," the chef said.
Since coming to the attention of police and liquor licence regulators, Eleven Bar had implemented a raft of changes: two-way radios, increased security, more monitoring of the liquor ban area, better staff training systems and engagement with former bar owner and hospitality consultant, Phil Ellis.
Mr Singh told the DLC he had initially not been involved in the management of the premises but found himself "thrust into the role" of duty manager due to staff shortages.
"None of us had the experience," he said.
Upon being questioned by the panel, Mr Singh seemed more aware of his obligations and had up-skilled once he was made aware of the bar’s shortcomings.
"I know enough to provide a safe place for the youngsters to enjoy themselves," Mr Singh said.
"I promote a good-vibe policy, we don’t want any discrimination or phobias against any genders, colours or creed. We want everyone to be able to have fun in a safe environment."
Naveen Malhotra and Nikesh Singh took most of the heat for Eleven’s shortcomings, with Prakash Khattri taking a back seat in late 2021.
Mr Malhotra and Mr Singh were appointed as directors in May 2022.
Mr Khattri visited the premises every week or two and reportedly never saw intoxicated people on site.
He became more involved with the business in August 2022 — informing the committee that Mr Singh and Mr Malhotra would "exit" Eleven in December that year.
Mr Khattri — who is currently before the court facing 12 charges relating to alleged underpayment of staff at another of his businesses — spoke with the ODT, saying he could not comment on what happened at the bar when he was not present.
Eleven Bar also faces proceedings with the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority. The decision is still pending and there is no estimate of when an outcome will be reached.
Dave shared his hopes for the future of Eleven: "I think these guys need to be made an example of. I think they have just flouted the law. I don’t want to see another venue close but at the same time I don’t want to see bulls.... calibre operators getting away with murder."
Mr Singh told the ODT there had been many negative impacts on his life since being publicly associated with Eleven.
He had not had any contact with Mr Malhotra since the DLC hearing in February.
"Let’s just say we had a difference in opinion and leave it at that," Mr Singh said.
Mr Malhotra refused to comment.
*Those who shared their experiences with the ODT asked to remain anonymous.
