Aussie batsman caught out by investment

Greg Chappell was among the investors who claimed to have lost A$1.3 million. Photo / Supplied

Former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell is among a clutch of investors who rue the day they got involved in an investment scheme once linked to the Bradleys.

Chappell was part of a group of Australian investors who claimed six years ago to be A$1.3 million out of pocket after becoming indirectly involved with the Bradleys through a Wellington man, Grant Thomas Cardno.

In 2004 Chappell was reported as saying he had given some of his own money to Cardno, as well as money that had been donated to the Happi Foundation, a charity that provides medical care and therapy for people suffering terminal illnesses. He was a patron of the charity.

When the money disappeared, Cardno blamed the Bradleys, and the dispute ended up in the High Court at Auckland.

According to an interim judgment from Master Graham Lang in 2002, Cardno gave the money to Jackie Bradley who, among other things, suggested it be placed in a Swiss investment fund. She told Cardno the money would be invested for six weeks in an African aid programme, and would earn interest of 10 per cent per week.

She was unable to provide evidence the money was ever invested. Lang ordered B'On Financial Services to compensate Cardno, but also agreed to give Jackie Bradley more time to come up with some of the money.

The interim judgement was later set aside after a settlement was reached, and the Bradleys' lawyer was later reported as saying that "Ms Bradley's company has paid to Mr Cardno's company all money due".

Cardno continued to maintain he was an "innocent bystander" in the case. But Herald investigations have revealed that Cardno has a habit of attracting controversy.

In 2001 he began building a grand home on Norfolk Island, described by an Australian journalist as looking like it had come "straight out of the Hollywood Hills". It burnt down in mysterious circumstances nearly two years later.

The ABC reported that Cardno did not want to talk about the suspected arson, but indicated he would rebuild "and perhaps at a later stage could explain more".

He has occasionally referred to himself as "Sir Grant Cardno".

In December 2005 he was named as a defendant in a case brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against a group of people it alleged were behind a "prime bank" Ponzi scheme involving up to US$390 million from more than 1400 investors across the US.

According to SEC documents, investors were told that a former rodeo cowboy and basketball referee, Travis Correll, would forward the money to Cardno, who had "exclusive contracts with international banks" and would invest it in "trading programs and loan programs". They were supposedly promised monthly returns of between 4 and 12 per cent.

In fact, said the SEC, the money was not sent to Cardno and the programmes did not exist. Correll admitted the scheme was a Ponzi but claimed it was Cardno who introduced him to the scam.

Correll claimed to have met Cardno several years earlier, and was persuaded by him to raise money from friends and family to invest in an international banking programme. Correll wired US$100,000 to New Zealand, and when he never got it back he resorted to the same tactics himself.

But according to the SEC, Cardno visited the US several times. "During those visits, he met with investors, usually accompanied by Correll. In these investor meetings, Cardno stated that individuals who wanted to invest US$1 million or more could invest directly through him."

The SEC also alleged that Correll and Cardno "portrayed themselves as 'good Christians' and philanthropists who donate to charitable causes, typically associated with churches and other religious organisations."

Correll was eventually sentenced to 12 years in jail. An associate, Neulan Midkiff, received a 15-year sentence.

Cardno didn't turn up in court to defend himself, and in November 2006 a Texas judge found against his company, Sovereign Capital Investments, by default. His company was said to have been involved in "fraud, deceit and a deliberate or reckless disregard of regulatory requirements" which "directly or indirectly" resulted in substantial losses to investors.

When reports of the case were posted to a Norfolk Island web forum, someone claiming to be Grant Cardno insisted he had been nothing more than a "consultant" to those involved.

The writer then went on to say: "If there is any fault on my part, it was my willingness to see people (investors) become successful and to my knowledge the many investors in their group have been blest [sic] over the five-year period," the person wrote.

The following year, an American financial adviser published a guest column in an Atlanta newspaper describing the Correll fraud case as "the most greed-involved fiasco" he had ever seen.

"I've never seen a criminal venture cause so much damage and financial destruction for one or two people, much less 100 people," David Purdy wrote in the Forest Lake Times.

Cardno is said to have previously lived in Norfolk Island, Panama and Uruguay. However it appears he is now living at Makara Beach, just north of Wellington.

Kapiti Coast architect Peter Davis, who designed Cardno's house on Norfolk Island, says Cardno turned up at his office about a month ago. He understood there had been big changes in his life and he was no longer with his original wife.

"I've got no idea what he's doing, but it looks like he's turned himself into something different. He's talking about building a new house."

Cardno himself contacted the Herald yesterday and was initially happy to talk about the Bradleys.

He said he had only ever met them "on two occasions" and their previous squabble was "all sorted".

He was unaware whether Greg Chappell had ever got his money back, and claimed he was not directly involved with the cricketer in the deal.

When asked about his supposed knighthood, Cardno claimed it was an informal arrangement from the "Queen of England", for his work in a Wellington soup kitchen.

According to Cardno, his lawyer is attempting to overturn the fraud judgment against him in the US. He declined to answer further questions and then pleaded for the information not to be published.