Auckland mayor's top executive liquidating personal firm owing $570k
Brown's chief of staff Jaswant Sailendra Singh (Jazz) called in the liquidators on June 4, for his property development company Traxx Investments Limited.
The first report by liquidators Steven Knov and Kieran Jones, dated June 11, shows Traxx has no assets, and its sole creditor, listed as preferential is Inland Revenue with the sum of $569,739.
A spokesman for the mayor said in a statement provided to Newsroom at the weekend that Brown 'has never heard of Traxx Investments nor has he received any advice about Jazz Singh's involvement with this company.'
Singh told Newsroom his employer, Auckland Council, was not aware of the liquidation, which he described as 'unrelated altogether' to his work there.
He said the existence of his business interest had been declared to the council, but not the liquidation.
Asked about the circumstances leading to the liquidation, he said 'I don't plan on talking to you about that.'
He said the liquidation was a voluntary thing which his advisors had told him to do.
In the liquidators' first report it said 'the liquidators have been advised that the reason for the failure of the company, which led to the appointment of the liquidators, is due to the company having insufficient assets to satisfy its liabilities.'
The report said they had yet to receive a claim from Inland Revenue.
Singh is the chief of staff in the mayor's office, and technically an Auckland Council staffer. Photo: Auckland Mayor's office
The role of chief of staff is the most senior position in the Auckland mayor's office and Singh has travelled overseas on occasions with Brown, and is one of the lead officials in discussions with the government and external entities. For example, one push by Auckland and other councils is to convince the central government to return a share of GST to local government.
Singh, previously a solicitor, has held senior management roles at Auckland Council for 14 years, and has been in the mayor's office for most of this term.
He was initially the head of Budget and Finance for the mayor, and became chief of staff in June 2024. Previously he had held roles in the council as general manager of procurement, head of risk, and manager of property and commercial legal services.
Singh is the sole director, and co-owner of Traxx Development Limited, and Traxx Property Investments Limited, with Companies Office records showing the other shareholder in both as Paul Michael Davies.
When Singh was made chief or staff, Brown was full of praise on Facebook:
'I'm pleased to announce that Jazz Singh will be my new chief of staff.
'As well as being a strong family man and a father of six, he's got strong business smarts and will be the first finance person in the role since the formation of the super city.
'Jazz is my current head of finance and budget and has played a key part in my long-term plan. He's well placed to deliver on my manifesto, bring the CCOs into line and stop wasting money!
'I'm glad he's agreed to lead my office's strong and capable team.'
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