She thought she made a ‘wise’ $750k investment. Now, she’s ‘devastated, full of self blame’

Saturday, 14 February 2026

Controversial businessman Bernard Whimp is set to meet with investors in his under fire firm, including Sue, who says she blames herself for giving money to his company. Jake Kenny reports.

Married and expecting a child at the age of 18, Sue* and her husband had virtually nothing to their name - $3,000 in savings, but an equal amount in hire purchase debt.

Over the next two decades she says they built a successful small business that allowed Sue the freedom to pursue her passion by training to be a registered nurse.

“Nursing has always been more than a job to me,” she says. “It was a calling.”

Her career path took her to different parts of the industry - medical sales, education, district nursing and homecare. But working in rest homes resonated with her the most. Sue says she became a passionate spokesperson for the sector. She spoke at conferences, met with politicians and got involved with a national television campaign for better funding.

In her early 50s, Sue pursued an ambitious dream to own an aged care facility. She says she took out a mortgage and bought what she says was a struggling rest home on the brink of closure.

“The building was tired and complaints had scared people away,” she says. “[I wanted to] fill those rooms with laughter and life again.”

It was a rewarding but costly endeavour. Sue had remarried by then. She and her new husband poured themselves into the work.

“I slept in my office, [then] in a small onsite cabin my father gave us,” she says. “We didn’t charge extra fees [and] helped residents who couldn’t afford costs. I lent money to staff who needed help.”

They introduced pets, repainted walls and refurbished rooms. Eventually the rest home secured a modest increase in funding, residents and staff, she says.

Recently, health challenges forced Sue to retire. Her husband too was tired.

“We looked toward retirement believing we’d finally have time for ourselves. We had a freehold home, a wonderful family and a sense of peace.”

But the couple also needed income. Sue says she did research and sought professional advice, before investing $750,000 with Chance Voight.

“I truly believed I was making a wise, well informed decision.”

Stuff previously reported that six of Chance Voight’s 27 companies were placed into interim liquidation late last year after receiving more than $45 million from more than 100 investors, some of whom are elderly.

The Financial Market Authority (FMA) applied for the liquidations as it investigated Chance Voight, its controversial director Bernard Whimp and associated entities. The probe is related to allegations around poorly kept books and potential insolvent trading.

Since then, Sue, in her 60s and her husband, in his 80s, are among a small group of investors Stuff has spoken to who say they handed over huge chunks of their life savings.

“[I’m] devastated and full of self-blame over what has unfolded,” Sue says. “I can only hope that the FMA and Chance Voight know what they are doing that somehow everything will be all right.”

She is now calling for answers.

“Not just for me, but for everyone who put their faith in this system and the regulatory system around it.

“I’ve always believed in accountability. Now I’m asking the regulators to show us some.”

Malcolm Hollis, John Fisk and Lara Bennett of PwC have been appointed interim liquidators and provided a report on the Chance Voight group’s affairs to the High Court in late January.

Stuff understands it has been recommended that the remaining 21 Chance Voight companies also be placed into liquidation.

In a statement, Hollis said the liquidators’ report broadly supports allegations made by the FMA against Whimp and the group, as well as findings made by Associate Judge Dale Lester.

In an earlier judgment placing the six Chance Voight companies into interim liquidation, Judge Lester said: “I am satisfied that there is reason to believe that there have been serious and persistent breaches of the [Companies Act] by the group. The situation is quite unsatisfactory for companies raising money from the public.”

Meanwhile Whimp, who has a history with the financial watchdog and criminal convictions arising from his directorship of another company, is steadfast in his belief that investigators, liquidators and the High Court are wrong.

“When I ran Chance Voight everyone got their money on time and our record was world class,” he told Stuff. “I haven’t put any money at risk.”

Asked why he thought the FMA was investigating him, he said: “The FMA are busy bodies. They just want to make it look like they’re doing something. They should never have been involved.”

Whimp then doubled down.

“The FMA are idiots. They are f…… idiots,” he said.

“Sadly they are just incompetent. No one in there knows much. The FMA is like a robot with a tiny brain. It can’t cope with anything complicated.”

He said Chance Voight had a number of assets and undertakings that had been frozen, including a fundraising project for a share market investment, which meant millions would be gone because of the liquidations.

Asked about PwC’s report, Whimp said: “I imagine it having the value of a used fish and chip wrapper. They’re all in the same boat,” he said. “A few lawyers and people with no commercial understanding. They might understand KiwiSaver and they think this makes them capable.

“I don’t feel the slightest responsibility for the investments.”

Asked what he thought about investors Stuff has spoken to who blame him for the debacle, Whimp said: “It is early days. It will all come out.

“Investors are soon to be given a choice. Cancel the liquidations and put me back in the driver’s seat, or let the liquidations continue and lose your dosh.”

In emails leaked to Stuff, Whimp has asked investors to make donations to pay for legal fees, asked former employees to return to work on reduced pay, and in his latest correspondence, has organised a meeting with investors at Chance Voight’s Rangiora headquarters on Saturday to “provide the explanations that I can.”

In a prior email he styled himself “NZ’s Donald Trump” after reportedly being accidentally referred to as “Trump” by an FMA lawyer. He also called Chance Voight’s former staffers his “soldiers and soldieresses.”

Andrew, 63, who did not want his surname used, previously told Stuff he invested roughly a third of his life savings ($80,000) into Chance Voight in March 2024.

“All those messages from Whimp, asking for money to help with the fight and pay for legal fees. It stinks.”

He said he intended to be there when Whimp and the FMA went toe to toe in court.

“He needs to know we’re real people. It’s our money. We’ve saved all our lives for it.”

A 63-year-old man from Wellington, who did not want to be named, said the return on his $200,000 investment was due in full with interest five days after the Chance Voight companies were placed into interim liquidation just before Christmas.

“I didn’t do enough research. I usually would,” the man said. “They weren’t pushy either so I went for it.”

A High Court hearing has been set down between the FMA and Chance Voight for Thursday, February 19. The case is to determine whether the six Chance Voight companies will be placed into full liquidation, but this is unlikely to be argued or determined on this date as it is a first call.

Whimp previously told Stuff he would be there.

The former bankrupt has convictions for burglary, removing documents of a company in liquidation and failing to comply with a liquidator’s notice, according to a 2009 Supreme Court appeal judgment obtained by Stuff. He unsuccessfully sought leave to appeal the convictions.

The incident occurred after one of Whimp’s companies was placed into liquidation, according to the judgment. He was required to leave the premises, but returned that evening and removed property belonging to it. He was found guilty of the three charges by a jury after a trial.

Companies Office records show Whimp was banned from acting as a director from September 2007 to September 2012.

He came under the Securities Commission’s spotlight in 2010 when he started making offers for shares below their listed prices in various companies, many of them trading on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) for considerably higher prices.

The actions were later found by the High Court to be “misleading and deceptive” designed to “catch some smaller shareholders off guard”. Injunctions were granted preventing Whimp from receiving the shares. Stricter regulations were introduced the following year.

Whimp founded Chance Voight in 2021.

He was raised in Christchurch and is currently based in Rangiora.

*Not her real name