Allan Mitchell. Photo/Supplied
A terminally ill Bay of Plenty man with a chequered past who is raising money on Givealittle to pay for a potentially life-saving drug has admitted to criminal wrongdoing.
Following a tip-off, the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend has discovered former investment broker Allan Mitchell, who has advanced melanoma, was convicted of misappropriating more than $400,000 of clients' money in 1999.
He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years' jail after being found guilty by a jury on nine charges.
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Mr Mitchell, 54, says he never disclosed the conviction on his Givealittle page because "it would probably have made my situation worse and I would have got less than I have got now".
Questions were first raised about his controversial business activities shortly after he set up the page a few weeks ago.
Public concern prompted Givealittle to conduct an investigation which revealed his company was convicted in 2008 of selling pills that falsely claimed could make women's breasts larger and firmer.
The online fundraiser decided that he would be allowed to keep his page open, but all funds raised would be paid directly to Braemar Hospital which was assisting with his treatment.
It said this would give donors confidence that their donations would be used for the intended purpose, which was to treat his medical condition.
Since then, Lynne Le Gros, the general manager of the Spark Foundation, which owns Givealittle, has been made aware by this newspaper of Mr Mitchell's conviction in 1999 and subsequent imprisonment.
"This information, if correct, would not alter the approach we have already taken with respect to Mr Mitchell's current fundraising page, ensuring that any funds raised via Givealittle are paid directly to a bank account at Braemar Hospital," she says.
Mr Mitchell has confirmed to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend that he spent 16 months in prison followed by two months' home detention for his role in the 1999 fraud.
According to a New Zealand Herald report on the case he promised investors, who were mainly friends and acquaintances, a return of 8 per cent a month on their money, assuring them it would not leave New Zealand.
But without their authority he sent $431,000 to the United States where it was stolen. At his district court sentencing Judge Robert Kerr said there was no doubt that he had been duped by overseas interests.
Mr Mitchell, himself, told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend that he was taken in by an accountant in Melbourne who approached him with a deal.
"He took the money and gave it to a guy in Mexico and promised me a good return on it, but I never saw it again."
After serving his sentence Mr Mitchell, who had been living in Auckland, returned to his hometown of Tauranga and sold real estate for three years on behalf of the Go Gecko franchise.
Following that he started Erdic (NZ) Ltd which sold a breast enhancement tablet that was supposed to be a natural alternative to invasive breast implants.
The company claimed the pill could significantly and permanently increase the size, shape and firmness of women's breasts.
However, acting on a complaint, the Commerce Commission took the company to court, alleging 51 breaches of the Fair Trading Act in relation to claims made in a brochure and on two websites about the therapeutic benefits of the tablet.
The company faced fines of up to $13.2 million, but after a defended hearing in the Tauranga District Court was convicted and fined $100,000.
Mr Mitchell is still upset over the verdict saying he never received any complaints about the pills from the many women who bought them.
"In the court case I had three witnesses who had amazing results with the product and endorsed it, but because I didn't have a doctor to say it was legitimate, I was convicted."
He says with hindsight it would have been best to make a clean breast of the convictions from the moment he started a Givealittle page, something he now deeply regrets.
So far he's raised about $12,000, mostly from people who know him.
The sum is far short of the $56,000 he's seeking for 12 weeks of treatment with a new drug called Pembrolizumab to attack the melanoma in his brain.
He says the treatment could initially add another six to 12 months to his life, with the potential to put the disease into remission if it's administered for a much longer period.
But time is running out for the Paengaroa man who has next to no money, and is living alone in a rented two-bedroom cottage on an orchard.
"The doctor gave me six weeks and it's getting worse and worse by the day," he says. "My brain is giving up and I'm finding it really hard to think, and I'm have little epileptic fits every now and again.
"The only thing that could help me is this drug, but I'm aware of what some people are saying about me and I think it's going to be impossible to raise enough money. Basically it's just a matter of time before I'm dead and the money raised will have to go to my funeral or returned to the donors."