Story: Business failures and corporate fraud

Craig Heatley and Allan Hawkins, 1984

Two high-flying 1980s businessmen were Craig Heatley and Allan Hawkins, shown in May 1984 when the Rainbow Corporation first listed on the stock exchange. Heatley was managing director and Hawkins chair of the corporation, which eventually owned an amusement park, property, and stakes in many companies in New Zealand and Australia. It was absorbed by Brierley Investments in 1987, but Hawkins’s own conglomerate, Equiticorp, collapsed. For his part in the Equiticorp fall Hawkins was found guilty of fraud and jailed.

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New Zealand Herald

Reference: 250107NZHRWBUSINESS2

Sound file from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero (Equiticorp–Hawkins found guilty/Reference number C1080).

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How to cite this page

Graeme Hunt, Business failures and corporate fraud – Failures since 1950, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/speech/22346/craig-heatley-and-allan-hawkins-1984 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Graeme Hunt, published 13 January 2010.

Comments

hally
26 November 2010

I guess the financial temptations in business are high, these guys have proven it but the story doesn't have a happy ending for them. Let's hope there aren't any business managers like these guys in the Local business directory.