Former realtor Gurpreet Singh Grewal alias Preet who operated the once flourishing Preet & Co Real Estate business in Auckland has reportedly skipped bail and fled to India.
Earlier in March, the 36-year-old who is facing criminal charges in New Zealand District Court was allowed by the judge to travel to India for two weeks to raise funds to repay his outstanding debts to the tune of over NZD 2 million.
But two months on from the deadline assigned by the court, Mr Grewal has not returned, despite paying $10,000 as surety bond to the court, reported .
Mr Grewal's wife and child's whereabouts are also not known.
Mr Grewal operated a total of ten branches across Auckland as part of the Harcourts franchise until it was liquidated and placed in voluntary administration in April last year.
Gurpreet Singh Grewal Source: Stuff
Along with his wife, he also operated an associated rentals business across southern and eastern suburbs.
However, in 2017, it was found that $1 million was missing from the firm’s trust account, a mandatory account that is maintained by all real estate agents to hold money paid by the clients until it is paid out to a vendor or as commission to salespeople.
But the couple did not have enough to replace the money in the trust account and on top also owed $500,000 in taxes to New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD).
In addition to his legal troubles, Mr Grewal also owes over $2 million in debt to the Harcourts group and Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).
According to the Preet & Co Real Estate’s , Mr Grewal has “overseen the complete transformation of this real estate firm intone of the leading agencies in South and East Auckland.”
