Adviser wooed clients with ‘free dinners’

A runaway financial adviser who loved to perform on stage would woo clients with the promise of a free dinner before urging them to invest.

Barry Kloogh, the Dunedin-based financial adviser, has gone to ground after investigators raided his High St business in May.

The investigation showed two of Kloogh’s companies – Financial Planning Ltd, and Impact Enterprises Ltd – have combined liabilities of $12.5 million.

Some investors told The Press they feared they would not get their money back, with one alleging it was a ponzi scheme. ‘‘We don’t know what we are getting back,’’ the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.

Kloogh, who had a penchant for late model European cars, is listed as a current director of 25 companies and owns six properties, mainly in the lower South Island.

He was not at the small unit he owned in Mosgiel or at the larger home he owned in Bishopdale, Christchurch. A resident of a Balclutha home Kloogh had an interest in did not want to comment.

Kloogh was also not at a former business address which is still listed as a contact point for some of his companies. Papers were served there for those companies liquidated by the High Court of Dunedin on Thursday morning.

All contact numbers, including his personal and business numbers, were no longer working.

A woman told The Press she was invited to a ‘‘free dinner’’ by a female friend who was being financially wooed by Kloogh late last year.

The dinner was accompanied by a ‘‘car salesmen pitch’’ from Kloogh, she said. Kloogh highlighted his own success, and told the women they could become debt-free and financially secure.

The Dunedin woman, who declined to be named, said while the dinner at the St Clair restaurant was free, it came with a catch. ‘‘They would ring and then pester you to make an appointment,’’ she said. ‘‘I just kept on turning it down, but they honestly hounded me.’’

Another person knew Kloogh from his involvement in musical theatre. Kloogh directed, acted and sang, and had a starring role as Rene in Allo Allo. He also financially supported at least one major musical.

That sponsorship entitled Kloogh to wine and dine some of his clients along with his Belarusian wife, Lana. It is understood some of his musical theatre friends invested with him, potentially losing up to $500,000 each.

Dunedin lawyer Geoff Mirkin, of Wilkinson Rodgers, is assisting on a pro-bono basis about eight people who lost money.

He confirmed he had met with a much larger group of about 50 investors, and ‘‘there are some horrible stories’’. Many of those investors knew Kloogh socially, he said. Anyone potentially caught up in the investments could contact his firm as ‘‘they all have the same interest’’. He would not comment on any allegation that the investments were part of a ponzi scheme, with investors waiting for a final liquidator report.

It is understood weeks before Kloogh’s business was raided by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), with the assistance of the Financial Market Authority (FMA), Kloogh had put a deposit on one of Dunedin’s grandest homes.

The owner of that home, which is still on the market, did not respond for comment over the collapsed sale.

Both the FMA and the SFO were not in a position to comment on whether Kloogh was part of a ponzi scheme.

In court this week, Jenny Cooper, QC, acting for the FMA, told the court there was evidence of the fraudulent misuse of investor funds. An earlier High Court judgment concerning Kloogh’s Financial Planning Ltd, showed clients invested nearly $15.7m in his companies between May 2012 and April 2019.

Associate Judge Lester said while a full analysis had yet to be completed on funds not deposited into his companies, it appeared ‘‘substantial funds have been used for personal expenditure by Mr Kloogh’’.

Sponsorship in musical theatre entitled Barry Kloogh to wine and dine some of his clients along with his Belarusian wife.