Council company boss wanted on drink-driving charge is reportedly in Fiji

Sunday, 25 September 2022

Tim Boyd stepped down as chief executive of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd last year. (Video first published September 2022.)

An outgoing council company boss who is wanted on drink-driving charges in the US, and is yet to comment on a swath of revelations about his past, is reportedly in Fiji.

Tim Boyd joined ratepayer-owned Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) in March but quit this month over “differences of opinion” with the board. His resignation is not effective until December 6.

It has since emerged Boyd previously faced a handful of civil lawsuits over fraud and unpaid money in the US; was ordered to pay NZ$30 million in damages; was charged with drink-driving in 2011, 2014 and 2018; and faced a restraining order from an ex-fiancee.

Two sources, unverified, have indicated to Stuff that Boyd is in Fiji. He is apparently due to return to New Zealand this week. Neither Boyd nor his lawyer could be reached for comment on Sunday.

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Tim Boyd was chief executive of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd between March and September.

* Recruitment review under way at council company after emergence of court judgments against CEO

Boyd co-owns a property with a woman at Jack’s Point, near Queenstown. It has a rating valuation of $1.4 million.

The co-owner, who asked not to be named, said she was in litigation with Boyd.

“I am currently in litigation with Tim over the property, however cannot disclose further details due to confidentiality.

“Your previous articles have been extremely enlightening in relation to my situation.”

She declined to comment further.

According to realestate.co.nz, the property was last sold in May 2021.

Boyd is yet to comment publicly on the revelations about his background in the US, which were first reported by BusinessDesk.

Boyd has not returned emails and a phone number believed to belong to him would not connect and ring.

Boyd’s lawyer, Hayden Wilson of Dentons Kensington Swan, has also not responded to repeated queries since last Wednesday.

On Friday, a friend who was outside the Jack’s Point property said Boyd was “off grid”. The man said Boyd would return to Christchurch before the end of the month.

CCHL ignored the question of Boyd’s whereabouts as part of a recent response to Stuff. It also would not say if Boyd was working or being paid during his notice period. Paul Silk has been appointed acting chief executive.

Finding Boyd has previously proved difficult.

During 2019 and 2020, a disgruntled investor was suing Boyd in a Los Angeles court. Meanwhile, Boyd was working as a senior adviser in New Zealand at the Ministry of Social Development.

The investor was unable to locate Boyd or his companies to serve a summons, so eventually served the notice in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, court documents show.

Boyd still did not respond to the lawsuit.

The investor claimed in his court complaint that Boyd failed to pay back $390,000, despite signing a contract saying he would.

A default judgment in August 2020 ordered Boyd and his companies to pay $481,873 to the investor.

This week CCHL will have to reveal what Boyd was paid in his early tenure as part of its annual report.

The report will be published on September 30 and will cover the 2022 financial year period, from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. A requirement of the report is to disclose the salary of the company’s chief executive.

Previous reports show that in the 2021 and 2020 financial years, former chief executive Paul Munro was paid $374,710, though he took a six-month 20% pay cut during the pandemic.

In 2019, 2018 and 2017, Munro was respectively paid $365,570, $357,700 and $350,000.

An external review into Boyd’s employment history and legal matters in the US, Australia and New Zealand is already under way and is being conducted by law firm Lane Neave.

CCHL said last week the review might take time as it was committed to “acting in good faith as a good employer towards Mr Boyd”.