Bridgecorp founder Rod Petricevic wants his seized $120,000 Porsche 911 handed back.
Meanwhile, in what's fast becoming a game of cat-and-mouse, Bridgecorp's receivers are searching in vain for the failed finance company's former chief in order to serve a bankruptcy notice on him.
The Porsche has become asignature item in the receivers' battle to recover funds from the high-profile financier.
Now in the possession of the High Court, the luxury vehicle was taken from Petricevic and his wife when bailiffs visited their Remuera home last month.
The seizure was part of the receivers' efforts to collect $661,000 - the sum of $576,100 plus interest that Petricevic owes them for a personal tax bill paid on his behalf in September 2006.
Ownership of the car was transferred from Petricevic himself to his family trust three days after Bridgecorp collapsed last July, so the former chief executive wants it returned.
However the receivers argue that the vehicle was "fraudulently conveyed" to the trust, and are seeking an order preventing the High Court from releasing it until that claim is heard.
The receivers began bankruptcy proceedings last week, after a deadline for Petricevic to deposit the $576,100 in a High Court trust account came and went with no sign of the funds.
Lawyer for the receivers, Murray Tingey, admitted in court yesterday that they were having some trouble locating Petricevic. "We have tried to serve the Petricevics, but they haven't been at their residence. We are not sure of their whereabouts."
Insolvency law allows for gifts to trusts in the two years before a bankruptcy to be challenged.
Petricevic's lawyer Greg Jones told the court he had received no instructions over the Porsche, and his client would need to decide whom he wanted to act for him in that matter.
Petricevic and his fellow former Bridgecorp director Rob Roest are due to appear in the Auckland District Court next week. The pair are facing criminal charges brought by the Companies Office relating to Bridgecorp's prospectus.
Bridgecorp collapsed a year ago owing $458 million.
