Destiny Church's Brian and Hannah Tamaki move into $1.58m luxury home

Auckland Now, New Zealand/October 24, 2017

The Tamaki's new property near Papakura and Drury, south of Auckland, cost $1.58 million.

Destiny Church co-founders Brian and Hannah Tamaki have moved into a "resort-like" home in Drury, south of Auckland.

Bought in June for $1.58 million, the 234 square metre home boasts four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a spa and heated pool, RNZ's Checkpoint reported on Tuesday.

While the Tamakis live there, they're not legally connected to the home. Instead it is jointly owned by their lawyers Brennan and Brown-Haysom and 22-year-old granddaughter Eden O'Connor, also known as Eden Tamaki.

As the gated property undergoes extensive redevelopment, two of Destiny Church's 13 tax-exempt charities face deregistration - Destiny International Trust and Te Hahi o Nga Matamua Holdings Limited - after two years of reminders and extensions to file their 2016 and 2017 financial returns.

The Church's media liaison officer Anne Williamson said about the overdue returns in a statement: "We are confident that we can meet the Internal Affairs deadline of early November".

Last month it was revealed Destiny School had applied for charitable help in feeding and clothing some of its students.

However, Destiny Church withdrew its request for help from KidsCan, saying they don't believe it would be treated impartially.

Sue Barker, an expert in charities law and founder of Charities Law in Wellington told RNZ the two Destiny Church charities facing deregistration, two of the church's largest, have never filed financial returns under stringent new rules brought in in 2015.

"Prior to those rules, charities were often filing bank statements or hand written calculations, there was no standard of reporting required to be met," Barker told RNZ.

Though Brian and Hannah Tamaki refuse to be interviewed, both frequently post about media scrutiny on social media, labelling it, among other things, "fake news" and a "hate inspired agenda".

At one of his sermons in Christchurch earlier this month, Tamaki talked about what he really thinks of criticisms of his overt displays of wealth, RNZ reported.

"Jealousy is part of the promotion of God," he told a group of Destiny Church members at the secret sermon.

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