Following her guilty plea for charges of fraud, Federation founder Jenny Joblin has sold her house and paid back the bank and creditors, taking back the business.
“I realised how iconic it was to the country and how much a part of me it was,” said Joblin.
Joblin and her ex-husband and business partner Nicholas Clegg were both found to be filing erroneous paperwork, evading more than $680,000 in tax. Joblin received credit from the judge for her clean record and good character and fined only $40,000.
An automatic payment plan with the Customs agent was in place, and Joblin never noticed any discrepancies between the factory paperwork and the agent’s.
"I spoke to the factory myself and said why have you been doing this? They said we just do it for everyone, we thought it was a favour for you."
Joblin is now focussed on her two stores in Auckland, as well as the 70 retailers around New Zealand that stock the Federation brand.
“It is just me 100% now which is nice, although cost me everything too,” said Joblin.
Federation was placed into liquidation in February, with creditors and ASB bank owed more than $1 million. Joblin used the entire sale of her house to pay back the debt and secure the business in her name.
