An Auckland property director, who ran an illegal boarding house for migrant workers, has been fined $54,000.
Paul Knights, who was acting as director of 4 Corners Investment Ltd, had earlier pleaded guilty to the offending. The court said he “knowingly flouted requirements for financial gain”.
The fine was part of a wider prosecution over the converted warehouse – owned by Knights – on Maich Road in Manurewa, which predominantly housed workers from the Philippines.
Between 2017 and 2019, the workers, sourced by Radius Contracting Limited, lived in 22 unconsented container-style cabins which lacked adequate fire safety systems and appropriate means of escape.
Both Radius and the company’s logistics manager, William Farmer, had already been fined in 2021 on charges related to the boarding house.
Between mid-2017 and early 2018, Knights allowed the staged installation of the cabins and other building works at the warehouse, according to Auckland Council.
There were 23 cabins in total – 22 for sleeping and one for ablutions. Each cabin was designed to house two workers.
The cabins continued to be installed despite “clear advice” from council that consent for the boarding house was unlikely to be granted and indications that the works were unlawful.
No building or resource consents were obtained for the boarding house.
Meanwhile, Knights and his family lived on a mezzanine floor above the boarding house while he pocketed a share of the rental income.
In court, it was determined that Knights’ offending had gone “beyond wilful blindness”, with the judge saying he had flouted requirements for financial gain.
The Council said he had dodged the costs that came with obtaining consents and maintaining a current Building Warrant of Fitness while making money from rent.
Knights was fined $54,000, which was reduced from a starting point of $60,000 due to his lack of prior convictions and a late guilty plea.
The defence argued that any penalty he received should be reduced, as no actual harm took place at the boarding house.
Prosecutors countered, saying that while no actual harm took place, Knights’ tenants still lived in unsafe housing.
Judge Sheena Tepania rejected the defence’s claims and said that, as the building’s owner and property manager, it was the Knights’ duty to ensure the building was compliant and safe.
“The creation of risk to health and safety calls for a strong response, even if that risk has not eventuated,” she said at sentencing.
“While one cannot say what Mr Knights subjectively ‘knew’ about the building’s safety, managing such things is the purpose of a consenting regime, which he knew about and did not comply with.”
“I find circumventing the resource consenting process undermined the council’s ability to properly regulate the use of land. The defendant’s commercial motivation speaks to his culpability and his intent or wilfulness.”
There were no further discounts for good character or remedial action as his response was “no more than what was legally required”.
In 2021, Knights’ co-defendants, Radius and Farmer, were fined $67,500 and $45,000, respectively. The penalties were later upheld after an appeal.
Auckland Council’s team leader, investigations, Paul Cowling, described the Knights’ offending as “deliberate, reckless, and profit-driven”.
“Mr Knights housed vulnerable workers in unsafe conditions, ignoring the law to line his own pockets.”
He said the case was a “clear reminder” that similar behaviour would “not be tolerated”.
“Our role is to protect both people and the environment, and Aucklanders must be able to trust that buildings are safe and properly consented. Council will not hesitate to act against anyone who cuts corners at the expense of community safety.”
