Jones takes aim at Bryers' firm

Sir Bob Jones. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Multi-millionaire Sir Bob Jones is preparing a legal attack that could shut down the surviving arms of Blue Chip boss Mark Bryers' business empire.

He is taking aim at Northern Crest Investments Ltd - the same company that previously led Bryers' Blue Chip finance empire.

The Herald on Sunday has learned that a liquidation hearing has been scheduled for Northern Crest Investments Ltd - previously called Blue Chip Financial Solutions Ltd - in the High Court at Wellington on March 3.

The hearing relates to a $300,000 debt owed to Robert Jones Holdings Ltd after the Bryers company left its high-rise Auckland office on Level 12 of Queen St's Qantas House suddenly in August 2008.

Jones' property company was awarded a judgment for the debt in September 2009.

Northern Crest Investment Ltd director David Sekel said he had no comment on the case before the court. He said that the company was working on "building its future" in Australia and, once profitable, overseas.

He also said the company was working towards regaining its listing on the Australian stock exchange.

As a bankrupt, Bryers would have his shares in the company held by the Official Assignee, he said.

It is Jones' latest assault on the defunct Blue Chip empire. The company collapsed, leaving more than 3000 Kiwi investors $80 million out of pocket. Many of those were elderly and lost their life savings.

Jones has previously bankrupted co-founder Bob Bangerter, saying: "I think what they've done to those old people is appalling." However, Bryers and Northern Crest Investments Ltd have remained elusive.

The company dodged a Companies Office attempt last year to have it liquidated after Bryers stepped down as managing director.

Although made bankrupt last year, Bryers retains a major shareholding in the company. His Sydney high-rise apartment and comfortable lifestyle contrast to the picture he painted at his bankruptcy hearing last year, when he said he owned little more than the clothes he flew into New Zealand wearing.

He is facing charges over Blue Chip and is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The court case over the Qantas House rental revealed that the company virtually vanished from New Zealand overnight.

RJH Holdings investment manager David Rankin told the court he visited the offices to find they were "covered with office refuse and debris and in an unacceptable state of disrepair".

He believed the company had abandoned the offices, taking with it computers, files and staff.