Updated: SFO investigates Datasouth Finance

The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed that it is investigating Datasouth Finance Limited (DFL), part of the Datasouth Group.

This follows the liquidation of Christchurch-based IT company Datasouth. The liquidation became official at 1pm on 31 March.

According to SFO director Adam Feeley, the SFO received information that raised concerns as to the veracity of lease agreements purportedly entered into between DFL and clients. The lease agreements had been financed by South Canterbury Finance.

"The investigation is in its preliminary stages, and we will be working with the receivers and other parties to determine the existence and extent of any fraud," says Feeley.

HFK Limited has been appointed as the liquidator and the liquidator’s first report is due on 6 April. "We're now working through the process, trying to find out what assets are there," says HFK's Craig Melhuish.

Customers requiring technical help are being told to get in touch with Computer Concepts.

A source in Christchurch who did not want to be named told Reseller News that Datasouth employees have been looking for jobs in other IT companies in the area and, for that reason, the situation was “well known” in Christchurch.

Several people have posted messages of support to Datasouth's employees on Twitter. "Sad to hear about @datasouth. We'll miss dealing with them - best wishes guys!", posted @KinecticsCoach.

Gavin Bennett has updated its Twitter bio to say "former managing director of Datasouth" and posted the following tweet on Thursday: "Very proud of the @datasouth team right to the end. Over 18 years have seen so many talented people achieve amazing outcomes for our clients."

Reseller News was not able to get comments from Datasouth officials at the time of this writing.

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