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Terry Serepisos - Source: ONE News -
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Prime Minister John Key says Wellington businessman Terry Serepisos' bankruptcy is bad news for taxpayers.
Serepisos' last attempt to escape from the brink of financial disaster failed this morning in the High Court at Wellington.
Creditors for the former football club owner have rejected a plan to sell his more than 150 residential and six commercial properties over a two year period.
Over the last month the former Apprentice New Zealand host crumbled under a $203 million debt and put together the proposal to sell his assets, said to be worth more than $230 million.
Key says the businessman owes the taxpayer millions of dollars because his debt to South Canterbury Finance has been taken on by the government, under its Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme for the failed finance company.
Read a timeline of Terry Serepisos' career here
"I think what it means is the likelihood of the taxpayer being refunded their money is substantially reduced and any repayment they get will be substantially less than 100 cents in the dollar," Key said.
"How much, I don't know. That's ultimately a matter for receivers."
Serepisos' lawyer John Billington QC told the high court at Wellington Serepisos had secured a $20 million US loan from a Hong Kong-based merchant bank.
He requested a four-day adjournment to allow time for the money to come through.
However creditors South Canterbury Finance and Equitable Mortgages opposed the request and Justice Gendall told the court "...it was in the interests of the wider commercial community that this matter is drawn to a close."
The court also gave one creditor permission to claim the embattled businessman's household goods, including his clothes.
ONE News tried to talk to Serepisos but found the lifts to his office locked off and a staff member said it was to keep the media at bay.
At the weekend Serepisos sold his Ferrari at auction for $205,000 with just over 2500 kilometres on the clock. The auctioneer described the car as "the best Ferrari ever made" but quickly had to drop the $200,000 starting price.
Meanwhile, the ownership of the Wellington A-League club shifted into the hands of a business consortium last week, after Serepisos gave up his licence.
The consortium, which is headed by Gareth Morgan, will own the club under a five-year contract and is part of Welnix Limited.
Morgan, speaking highly of what Serepisos had done for NZ soccer, told TV ONE's Close Up he joined the consortium because he is a "passionate Wellingtonian".
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