---
alias:
- Kevin Nicholas Curnow
category: Business & Finance
created: 2026-09-23
location: Christchurch, New Zealand
relations:
- fn: 1
  reverse: true
  role: joint receiver and manager of Chemical Technology Ltd
  start: 1984-05-22
  type: appointed
  with: '[[Westpac]]'
- fn: 1
  type: employed_by
  with: '[[Deloitte Haskins & Sells]]'
summary: Christchurch chartered accountant of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, appointed
  by Westpac in May 1984 as joint receiver of Chemical Technology Limited after its
  American director fled.
tags:
- Person
- NewZealand
- Accountant
- Receivership
- RCHorsch
updated: 2026-09-23
---

Kevin Nicholas Curnow was a Christchurch chartered accountant who, with James Bruce Alfred McAlister, acted as receiver and liquidator for numerous Canterbury companies in the early 1980s. On May 22, 1984, Westpac Banking Corporation appointed the two men joint and several receivers and managers of [Chemical Technology Limited](/organizations/chemical-technology-limited/), the Clandeboye ethanol company whose American director, known as Dr Stanley Stokowski, had left [New Zealand](/places/new-zealand/) in March on a stolen passport.[^1][^2]

### Receivership

The appointment was made under a debenture dated August 3, 1981, given by Chemical Technology to Westpac, and covered "all assets of the company." The receivers' office was care of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, chartered accountants, Phoenix House, 76 Hereford Street, Christchurch.[^1] *[The Press](/organizations/the-press/)* reported that [John Rutherford](/people/john-rutherford-new-zealand-lawyer/), the company's founder, had arranged to pay the bank about 170,000 dollars and that preferential tax debts remained.[^2] A following Gazette notice, signed by the company's solicitor, stated that all money owing to Westpac had been repaid and that the receiver would cease to act; the companies register records the receivership as ending on December 17, 1984.[^1][^3]

### Other Appointments

The Gazette's name index records Curnow and McAlister as joint receivers or liquidators of other Christchurch companies in 1982 and 1983, among them T. H. Alexander Building Co., E. G. South Ltd., Rolleston Truck and Implement Services, House of Sewing (N.Z.), Akaroa Export (1981), Merivale Hardware, Terrace Industries, Regent Furnishers (1979), Sunveil Products and the New Albion Hotel.[^4] The director of Chemical Technology was the fugitive [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/).

[^1]: *New Zealand Gazette,* May 31, 1984, No. 91, p. 1832 ("Westpac Banking Corporation appointed James Bruce Alfred McAlister and Kevin Nicholas Curnow both of Christchurch, chartered accountants, as joint and several receivers and managers ... All assets of the company"). https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1984/issue/91/page/1832
[^2]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
[^3]: New Zealand Companies Office, Companies Register, "Chemical Technology Ltd," company number 141090, accessed September 23, 2026. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/141090
[^4]: NZ Gazette name index, "K N Curnow," 1970-2000, accessed September 23, 2026. https://gazette.howison.co.nz/search?name=K+N+Curnow&start_year=1970&end_year=2000