$15m missing, say finance firm investigators

Mike Bradley. Photo / Richard Robinson.

At least $15 million is now believed to be missing from an Auckland financial advisory firm, according to investigators probing the collapse of the company.

They have widened their investigation to include other businesses also linked to Remuera couple Mike and Jackie Bradley.

Liquidators sifting through the accounts of B'On Financial Services, which traded as Bradley & Bradley, have identified 40 investors in Auckland, Kerikeri and Tauranga who are owed money by the firm.

But they believe there may be more who have not come forward.

Serious Fraud Office head Adam Feeley said investigators had been working closely with the Companies Office and the liquidators on the Bradley case since late last year, and had "significant concerns" about the Bradleys' business practices.

"Those concerns are such that we have now extended our inquiries beyond the original companies involved in the liquidation."

Mr Feeley said the SFO was keen to hear from anyone who had invested with the Bradleys, and he urged anyone else considering doing business with the couple to seek independent legal and financial advice "which is always prudent anyway".

One investor has told the Herald he already accepts he may never recover his life savings.

The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he has been told by investigators that international funds he thought he was investing in did not appear to exist.

"To other people I'd just say, be very wary of where you put your money, and make sure you get all the details about where it is."

Companies Office records show the Bradleys set up a new company, Juniper Associates, a few weeks ago. Both Bradleys are also directors of Boston Mint, Clear Ways and Green Horizons, and Mr Bradley is also a director of Frontier Water NZ, NZ Consultancy Group, Pronostic Technologies, and Pro-Perspirant.

When the Herald visited Mr Bradley at home last week, he said the couple would prefer to wait "another couple of weeks" before talking to the media. He said the situation was "very complex".

Meanwhile, a Herald investigation into the collapse has revealed the Bradleys were once linked to a Wellington man who authorities claim was involved in a fraud in the United States several years ago.

In 2005, Grant Cardno was one of several people named by the US Securities and Exchange Commission as being involved in a high-yield "prime bank" Ponzi scheme involving up to US$390 million from more than 1400 American investors.

Mr Cardno claimed he had been only a consultant to those involved, but in 2006 in a civil case in Texas, a judge found against Mr Cardno's company, Sovereign Capital Investments.

In 2002, Mr Cardno was involved in a legal battle with the Bradleys. He claimed he gave their firm more than A$1 million to invest, but the money disappeared. Some of the money had come from former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell, and a charity he was involved in.

The Bradleys claimed they had done nothing wrong and Mr Cardno later settled with them.

He told the Herald yesterday his lawyer was trying to overturn the US judgment against him. He had recently moved back to Wellington after years of living overseas.