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A British investment banker who came to New Zealand for a better lifestyle invested $1.7 million in 19 apartments through Blue Chip. Now Neil and Michelle Hickman are pinning their hopes on court action to recover some of their losses.
Mr Hickman gave up his career as a successful investment banker and moved his family to New Zealand two years ago, intending to live off his wealth.
The Hickmans' immigration status depended on their putting money into New Zealand entities, and their investment in the now-failed Blue Chip property scheme qualified.
They, like at least 250 others, have been caught by a unique set of products Blue Chip sold - "joint ventures" and "premium income products" (PIPs) - which have left investors liable for buying apartments they don't want and can't afford.
With the apartment developments nearing completion, the investors are being asked to stump up for these properties - 18, in the Hickmans' case.
Barristers Paul Dale and Daniel Grove are seeking a High Court injunction to prevent developers of the first to be finished, the Barclay on Auckland's Albert St, from forcing the Blue Chip victims to settle.
Victims have cancelled their agreements and want their deposits back.
Completion is just three weeks away and Barclay developers the Greenstone Group say they are entitled to take over the deposits, currently being held in a trust account by Brookfields solicitors.
Messrs Dale and Grove have four other similar actions waiting in the wings. In total, the actions involve around 250 Blue Chip victims in Auckland apartment developments.
Mr Hickman has deposits on three apartments in the Barclay, eight in the Bianco complex in Turner St and seven in the Chatham development in Pitt St.
"There's no way, not in a million years did I want to buy these," he says.
"We came over here for this quality of life and I've been completely ruined by Blue Chip."
The 19th Blue Chip apartment is the one Mr Hickman feels most bitter about. The couple paid $690,000 for the property on Beach Rd which supposedly came with a guaranteed rental income. It has just been valued at $540,000. They have a $480,000 mortgage over it which rent does not cover.
In court yesterday Justice Judith Potter ordered that the Barclay case be given a priority hearing in the first week of next month.
Investors in the Blue Chip schemes were told that they would never have to buy the apartments.
They were paid a 16 per cent return on their deposits while the developments were being built, and were promised that Blue Chip would settle on the properties on completion. Their deposits would then be returned.
Mr Dale claimed in court that the Greenstone Group, which is also building the Chatham, was in league with Blue Chip: "There is quite powerful evidence that Greenstone and Blue Chip were hand in glove."
Once a wealthy man, Mr Hickman is being forced to leave his wife and three children to seek work back in England. The family have sold their Taupo section and are living in rented accommodation. Relatives are helping with expenses.
When Mr Hickman's Taupo Golf Club buddy and local Blue Chip agent Murray Kereama waxed lyrical about the merits of the scheme, he trusted him.
The two men still play at the club. They have not spoken since the Blue Chip collapse in February.
To top it all off, the Hickmans also invested $1 million in sections at the nearby Kinloch golf course. A large chunk of the development went to mortgagee sale last month.
"Talk about a bad year," Mr Hickman said.
