Where's the boat? Millions owed and assets reported stolen in major construction firm collapse

Saturday, 25 July 2026

TW Group Holdings Ltd, TW Civil Ltd, and RMS Contracting Ltd went into receivership in November 2024, and later into liquidation, owing more than $19m. (Note: There are different, unrelated companies of the same name in Hawke’s Bay, which are in no way connected to our reporting.)

Receivers and police are searching for roughly $700,000 in missing assets including a rare $200,000 Ramco boat and trailer, utes, and machinery.

Director Fred Witton says he has no idea where the missing boat or assets are, and that they were under the receivers' control when he left the company.

Witton and co-director Ross Troughton are now working at a new civil construction firm - Taiao Civil Ltd - set up by Witton’s father-in-law days after the receivership began.

The hunt is on for an expensive list of assets including a rare $200,000 boat and trailer that was bought by a group of civil construction companies, which later collapsed owing tens of millions of dollars.

Directors Fred Witton and Ross Troughton have, according to receivers, provided “no satisfactory response” about the whereabouts of the missing Ramco Ultimate 9000.

The vessel is the only one of its model in New Zealand.

Police and private investigators have been engaged and “recovery action” is being taken to recover assets missing from work sites.

Witton this week told Stuff he had no idea about the whereabouts of the boat or any of the other assets being sought.

“We’re definitely not to blame,” he said. “They were all in control of the receivers by the time we left.”

Troughton did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

The pair’s companies - TW Group Holdings Ltd, TW Civil Ltd and RMS Contracting (Wellington) Ltd went into receivership in November 2024, and later into liquidation owing more than $19m between them. The most substantially owed creditor is BNZ. (Note: There are different, unrelated companies of the same name in Hawke’s Bay, which are in no way connected to our reporting.)

Contact the reporter in confidence: jake.kenny@stuffdigital.co.nz

RMS Contracting was the public-facing civil works business, TW Civil was the equipment-owning company that leased machinery to RMS, and TW Group Holdings was a non-trading holding entity.

The group’s most recently assessed liabilities sit at roughly $10m after some assets were recovered and sold, according to the most recent receivers’ report. BDO, the receivers, have retained control over the companies at the consent of the liquidators.

The companies’ past projects across the North Island include Transmission Gully in Wellington, the Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway and the Peacocke Strategic Transport project in Waikato.

Witton and Troughton are now working as senior managers at Taiao Civil Ltd - a company incorporated by Witton’s father-in-law Fred Riding three days after the other companies went into receivership, according to the Companies Office.

The company’s listed address is in Wellington.

Stuff asked Riding how Witton and Troughton came to be hired after their companies went into receivership.

“People come on the market and an opportunity presents itself,” Riding said. “Fred is not in any form of director role. He is our operations manager.”

Troughton was working as a manager, Riding said. He was hired through Witton.

“Yes we do civil work,” Riding said.

“We do not own any of RMS Contracting’s assets.

“Taiao Civil is trading very successfully. We have nothing to do with [RMS]. We simply saw an opportunity to set up a new company.”

Riding said he had heard nothing about missing assets, apart from when he was called by “an ex-policeman, who was rude as hell - he was wanting to know the whereabouts of Fred and Ross”.

“Will [Fred] become a director of our company? The answer is probably not.”

Taiao Civil specialises in civil construction of roads and bridges, according to the Companies Office website.

Riding said it was formed as part of a wider group of companies under the Marico Marine group - businesses in the United Kingdom and New Zealand involved in marine engineering and consulting.

On his LinkedIn, Witton describes himself as a construction manager, with “strong business acumen with a practical background”.

He told Stuff he and Troughton were retained by the receivers to see a couple of project contracts through to their end, and were then “effectively sacked”.

Witton said he had not heard from police about any missing assets, but confirmed private investigators had turned up to his home.

“I don’t know why they were there. I guess they thought some of the assets might be at my place,” he said. “I’m an open book. I had nothing to hide.

“I rang the receivers after and said it was a bit on the nose, sending people to my house.”

Witton said his father-in-law ran the day to day at Taiao Civil Ltd, and he was simply an employee being paid wages.

Receivers Andrew McKay and Rees Logan, of BDO, were appointed to the companies in November 2024. There were disputes arising prior to the receivership that prevented some recoveries from key projects, their reports said.

“In addition, defects were identified on certain projects from prior to the receivership and the associated debtors are therefore non-recoverable,” they said.

Various company assets had not been recovered and had been reported to police, the reports said. Private investigators were also hired to track the assets down.

“Insurance claims were submitted in respect of assets missing from work sites since the start of the receiverships,” a report released this week said.

“However, due to the circumstances under which the assets went missing, the insurers rejected the claims. The New Zealand Police are continuing their investigations into the whereabouts of the above assets, and of other assets not in the companies’ possession at the start of the receiverships.”

The reports noted that one of the companies “owned a boat and trailer of significant value” which were unaccounted for.

“The receivers have written to the directors demanding return of these assets but to date have had no satisfactory response. The receivers have commenced the process of formal recovery action through the Courts.”

Stuff understands the boat and trailer cited is a Ramco Ultimate 9000 - estimated value of more than $200,000. It’s also understood that the estimated total value of the assets currently reported as missing or stolen is close to $700,000.

They include utes, a tractor, trailers and other construction related equipment.

“We are still working through trying to recover assets,” McKay told Stuff this week.

Posts appealing for sightings of the boat, and reporting it stolen, have been circulated on popular Facebook fishing groups.

Witton said he had seen the posts.

“I’ve been as helpful as I possibly can to the receivers. It sounds like they lost a few bits and pieces.”

Asked why the receivers sent private investigators to his home if he had been helping them, Witton said:

“I don’t know. I’m not sure where the assets are. My understanding is that the receivers are claiming insurance for all of the assets, as they were in control of them at the time.”

A police spokesperson confirmed receiving a report of a missing trailer last seen in Tauhei, Waikato.

Earlier BDO reports said the companies' work dried up following a downturn in the construction industry, made worse by the fact that a large amount of equipment and machinery was bought on finance.

'With cash flow constraints and low utilisation of a significant amount of equipment and machinery, the companies were reliant on the ongoing support of the bank (BNZ) to continue trading,' the reports said.

The directors asked the bank to appoint receivers.

Unsecured creditors owed just shy of $3.5m are not expected to be paid.

The entities also owed $526,000 to Inland Revenue in payroll and GST taxes, as well as $217,000 to staff in unpaid holiday pay.

The receivers made a distribution to IRD in the latest pay round, this week’s report said. It is still owed approximately $400,000.

Employee claims for wages and holiday pay at RMS Contracting were settled in full up to the statutory cap of $31,820 per person - $145,665 in total.

Liquidators were appointed in February 2025. The BDO receivers carried on as agents of the companies by consent.

The companies' primary assets included civil machinery and motor vehicles, and the receivers were collecting the assets to sell.