A Christchurch businessman who repeatedly breached bankruptcy rules, forged documents, misled authorities, and left behind mountains of dumped tyres has been banned for life from managing companies in New Zealand.
The High Court in Christchurch has permanently banned Michael Le Roy from being a director or promoter of any company, or from being directly or indirectly involved in company management, under section 383 of the Companies Act 1993.
The ruling follows a long history of serious offending, including Le Roy’s 2022 conviction and three-year prison sentence for unpaid tax, misleading the Official Assignee, and forgery. He was released on parole in September last year.
Vanessa Cook, Manager of the Business Registries Investigations and Compliance team, said Le Roy’s conduct ranks among the most serious the Companies Office has dealt with.
“There is good reason for Mr Le Roy to be permanently prohibited from being involved in managing any company under section 383 of the Companies Act based on his previous convictions and the serious risk of financial harm to the public should he be allowed to carry on business activities in the future,” Cook said.
The case has spanned over a decade, with Le Roy having been bankrupted twice and involved in a series of failed and non-compliant businesses. In one case, he abandoned 500 tonnes of rubbish on a leased lifestyle block after his waste disposal business collapsed, leaving the property owner with a $45,000 clean-up bill.
In 2018, Le Roy was ordered by Environment Canterbury to remove thousands of end-of-life tyres from a rural property in Amberley.
He failed to comply, and the estimated removal cost ballooned to around $500,000.
He later leased a warehouse, where he again stockpiled tyres. After being evicted, he left behind $65,000 in unpaid rent and forced the owner to spend an estimated $134,000 removing the waste.
While bankrupt, Le Roy continued to operate companies by installing family members as directors — a direct breach of his legal obligations.
Between 2015 and 2018, he also failed to pay nearly $60,000 in PAYE tax deductions across three companies.
In 2020, he was charged by Inland Revenue for tax evasion and by MBIE for using forged documents, trading while bankrupt, and misleading the Official Assignee.
At sentencing, Judge R. E. Neave said, “Considerable havoc has been left in your wake,” and pointed to Le Roy’s repeated disregard for official warnings.
“You knew what your obligations were, and you knew you were flagrantly in breach of those obligations,” the judge said.
Cook said lifetime bans are rare but necessary to protect the public from individuals who have shown a pattern of dishonest or reckless behaviour.
The Business Registries unit, part of MBIE, said the Companies Act is designed to prevent abuse of the corporate system and to ensure transparency and accountability.
A full list of banned directors is available on the Companies Register website.
