Creditors left more than $2.8m out of pocket as employment agency liquidation wraps up
Monday, 26 January 2026
The liquidator of an employment agency with offices in Canterbury and South Canterbury has reported the company to MBIE over potential Companies Act offences.
Cassandra Knox registered Trinity Employment Services in February 2021 and traded as a recruitment and immigration business, with offices in Timaru and Rolleston.
The company, of which Knox was the sole director and held a 95% shareholding, was put into liquidation in May 2024, and was still trading at the time.
The final liquidator’s report, dated December 24, said creditors would be left more than $2.8 million out of pocket with all known assets dealt with and the liquidation completed.
The liquidator said they now considered it “uneconomical” to continue to pursue Knox over an overdrawn shareholders current account which was listed as a $229,000 asset.
“Demands have been made to the shareholder for payment of the overdrawn current account. The liquidator received no payment and has had difficulty contacting the shareholder.
“The liquidator considers that there is no likelihood of recovery and [it is] uneconomical to pursue the matter further.”
The liquidator said they had “completed a referral to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s integrity and enforcement team in relation to potential Companies Act offences”.
Companies Act offences can relate to a wide variety of actions, such as the use of a company name, filing annual returns, or falsifying records.
Knox registered a second agency just three hours after Trinity was put into liquidation.
In February last year, she admitted a charge of tax evasion in relation to the second company, Elite Employment Ltd, in the Christchurch District Court.
Elite Employment was placed in liquidation in March 2025, owing close to $50,000 to creditors.
The failure of Trinity Employment Services was put down to a “failure to provide for taxation” and “economic factors” affecting the industry.
The liquidators said all plant, equipment and vehicles had been collected and sold, and proceeds received.
A distribution to preferential creditors had been made with staff owed $19,866 in wages and holiday pay, paid in full. Unsecured preferential creditors had been paid $13,000 which equated to a rate of less than 20c for every dollar owed.
The debts remaining unpaid at the completion of the liquidation included $1,540,159.77 to preferential unsecured creditors and $1,294,280.90 to unsecured creditors.
The liquidator would request the removal of the company by the Registrar of Companies.
Former staff of Trinity Employment spoke to The Press in August last year with claims of manipulation, an unhappy work environment, and late wages blamed on the bank.
Knox won the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce Emerging Leader Award in 2022.