Petricevic eyes house sale to fund legal bid

Navigator last year placed a caveat over Rod Petricevic's Remuera home to prevent its sale. Photo / Greg Bowker

Rod Petricevic will put his $4.4 million Remuera home on the market to raise funds to defend allegations his family trust owes $2.2 million to a Bridgecorp subsidiary.

Navigator Finance alleges the R.M Petricevic Family Trust owes it $2.2 million but the trust's lawyers claim the money was an advance, not a loan.

The family mansion in Remuera is owned by the trust, which has put forward a proposal to sell it in order to raise funds.

Last year, Navigator successfully placed a caveat over the Petricevic home to prevent its sale, and therefore secure the asset and prevent possible dissipation.

But the trustees have complained that the caveat prevented them from raising funds to defend allegations.

The sale of the house is conditional and Navigator has to agree to the price and whether the funds - after the mortgage has been repaid - will be placed in trust for protection.

The litigation against the trust is being funded by Bridgecorp's receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers because Navigator is in liquidation.

If Navigator wins, the funds are expected to be distributed among Bridgecorp investors and Petricevic's personal creditors. Petricevic was bankrupted in 2008.

This month the trust won an application to secure costs of $30,000.

Petricevic himself is not a beneficiary of the trust but his wife Mary, his children and his grandchildren are.

A trial was expected to start next Monday but Bruce Stewart, QC, lawyer for the trust, said yesterday that "all the ducks would not be in a row" in time for the trial date next week.

Another hearing on the dispute is scheduled for the end of next month.

Navigator lawyer Murray Tingey said the dispute could take a while to see a trial date.

There are also further issues such as whether two Australian subsidiaries - Bridgecorp Financial Services and Bridgecorp Holdings - will be allowed to join the proceedings as well as whether the trust will have to provide Navigator with further documentation.

Navigator was originally set up as an investment vehicle for a film, The Navigator. Stewart said Navigator was a tax-favourable treatment that was approved by Inland Revenue.