Couple in fraud case bailed to Coromandel

Investors have been told to expect no money back of the $15 million owed despite the sale of a $4 million Remuera residence. Photo / Supplied

An Auckland couple charged with a $15 million fraud have been bailed to a Coromandel getaway.

The Serious Fraud Office has laid 87 charges under the Crimes Act against Michael John Bradley and his wife, Jacqueline Lyndsay Bradley, the co-directors of B'On Financial Services Ltd.

The SFO alleges the couple took investors' money -through their company - to repay earlier investors and fund their own lifestyles.

They stood side by side in the Auckland District Court yesterday with their backs slightly turned away from the public gallery, avoiding the gaze of several of their investors.

They both stared directly at the community magistrate as she detailed their bail conditions. Both were forced to surrender their passports to police and were ordered not to speak to any Crown witnesses.

Their lawyer Ron Mansfield intervened when their bail address was to be read in open court, but the Herald can reveal it is in the Coromandel resort town of Pauanui.

SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said anyone thinking about investing money should understand the risks attached to any form of investment.

He said that after an extensive investigation, the SFO identified 85 investors but the charges relate to 24 investors who invested a total of $14,423,702 as well as A$841,303 ($1.1 million) between April 2003 and November 2009.

The SFO said those who invested with the Bradleys did not have their funds invested in any "meaningful way".

It said the money was primarily used to repay previous investors but also for business running costs and personal spending.

After the court hearing, some investors told the Herald they were keen to set up a support group, and they have appealed for anyone else interested in joining to contact the SFO.

The couple's financial advisory firm, Bradley & Bradley, operated from the Vero Centre in central Auckland.

The firm was placed into voluntary receivership last December and in July, receivers BDO Auckland told investors they had not received satisfactory explanations from the directors about the state of the firm's finances.

Investors were told at the time it was unlikely there would be any payout, despite the sale of the pair's mansion in Remuera.

The Bradleys' home in Bassett Rd was sold in July for more than $4 million. However, it was still listed as their address on court documents yesterday.

The couple did, however, have a substantial bank mortgage and their lawyer also had a mortgage over the house. At the time, BDO said it was unlikely there would be any money left over.

The couple are credited by some as pioneers who helped to create the financial advice industry in New Zealand. In 1988, Mrs Bradley, then known as Jackie O'Neill, published a book called The Winning Woman, which focused on financial advice for women.

The Companies Office began investigating last year after complaints from investors, and four firms jointly run by the couple were placed in liquidation.

They were B'On Financial Services, B'On Financial Services NZ, Bradley O'Neill Financial Planners and Bradley O'Neill Financial Services. Another company of which Mike Bradley is the sole director, Rosehip Nominees, was also placed in liquidation.