Mark Dunajtschik has settled a dispute with his former solicitor and Wellington property developer Mike Garnham, who he alleged owed him over $6 million.
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The case, filed by Dunajtschik and his wife Dorothy Spotswood against parties including Garnham, was settled out of court last week mid-trial.
The settlement terms are confidential, according to both parties’ legal counsel. Before it adjourned on Monday evening, Justice Jason Scott Mcherron heard one full day of the trial at the High Court in Wellington.
During the proceedings, Dunajtschik claimed that Garnham owed him a substantial sum of money and was attempting to evade payment. The specifics of the dispute, including the circumstances leading to the alleged debt and Garnham’s defense, were not disclosed in the available information.
Dunajtschik, along with his partner Dorothy Spotswood, has won the first part of this legal battle in the Wellington High Court.
Dunajtschik is a prominent figure in Wellington, who has not only developed some of the city’s largest buildings, including the HSBC Centre and Asteron Building, but his philanthropic efforts include a $100 million donation for a children’s hospital in the capital. He stands on the National Business Review’s List with an estimated net worth of $450m.
The case involved a series of loans made by Dunajtschik to Garnham between 2018 and 2021, totaling $3.87 million, for a subdivision development in Central Otago. Additionally, Spotswood made two separate loans to Garnham in 2017, amounting to $475,000 excluding interest.
Dunajtschik applied for a summary judgment against Garnham for the repayment of Spotswood’s loans, which have since been reassigned to Dunajtschik. Garnham had reportedly stopped making interest payments on these loans since October 2020. The court previously ruled in favor of Dunajtschik on this matter, though a decision on the larger sum of $3.9 million remained unresolved.
Garnham is described as a well-known lawyer, and private jet-owning developer in Wellington involved in major property investments in the capital, Wanaka, Fiji and elsewhere, who has also received some publicity in recent years for family disputes including a disputed loan from his brother.
