Mark Ronald Bryers was once one of New Zealand's richest men, running a property investment scheme called Blue Chip, which was anything but. Mark Bryers pictured with partner Catrina Bleicher. The couple's property in Cammeray is the subject of a proceeds of crime order. Credit: Instagram. Just as the company was going down in an inglorious blaze of bad publicity in , Mr Bryers was revealed to be living it up, spending thousands of dollars so he and his mates could enjoy an all-nighter at an Auckland brothel, The HQ Club.
It was in isolation in Queensland lock-up where Mr Bryers spent Tuesday night. This followed a day of dramatic arrests on the Gold Coast and in Sydney where a dozen members of the alleged criminal syndicate were arrested after an month investigation by a combined task force of the Australian Federal Police, the tax office and ASIC.
Mr Alex remains in custody after he was refused bail and a magistrate has banned him and his son Arthur from communicating with each other except through lawyers. Credit: SMH News. The following year his investors were infuriated when Mr Bryers received a fine and just 75 hours of community service after pleading guilty to charges of failing to comply with financial reporting rules over his failed Blue Chip company.
By that time Mr Bryers had moved to Australia and was living the high life in a city apartment enjoying panoramic views over Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. The New Zealand press reported that although Mr Bryers was discharged from bankruptcy restrictions in , he was banned from operating a company in New Zealand until Meanwhile, in Australia under the name "Mark Ryan", Mr Bryers was the brains behind the aggregation of a number of financial and accounting services companies into a group known as Talos.
Mark Bryers in the dock at the Auckland District Court in Credit: John Selkirk. According to the liquidator, the collapse of the Talos Group had many hallmarks of Blue Chip, particularly spruiking property investments to financial planning clients. Apart from the ATO and banks, many smaller firms that had been "bought" by Talos had never received payment and their owners were out of pocket for hundreds of thousands of dollars. National Party senator John "Wacka" Williams grilled executives from the corporate watchdog about Bryers in October Can you give us an update of what ASIC is doing here please?
