We will be uploading the Pleadings as they unfold in this case until the final judgment is received.
Please check back or bookmark this page for regular updates.
Thanks
5 December 2024
Email Tim Jones, CEO, Auckland BDO (all of the prior without prejudice removed).
BDO REFUSE to participate in any form of mediation.
BIG MISTAKE – if someone has a gripe with you, you ALWAYS go to mediation. That way, at the least, you see the size of the problem you have, and at best, things are often resolved with just an apology once people see things from the other person’s perspective.
Given a copy of the billboards going up on the motorway – NO response!
View here: Jaques email to Tim Jones
9 April 2025
Email Emma Smith, National Communications Manager, BDO New Zealand advising of website and upcoming billboards – NO response!
View here: Jaques email to Emma Smith
1 March 2026
Billboards go up on the Auckland motorway
Andy McKay - Ellerslie motorway, Auckland - 28 February 2026
Nick Innes-Jones, Rosedale motorway, Auckland - 1 March 2026
Tim Jones, CEO, BDO rings billboard company, “We don’t want to sue Dave. We will sue you if you don’t take them down”.
(Don’t blame them – they won’t want anything I have to say to come out in public in a Court environment!).
2 March 2026
BDO write a VERY heavy letter threatening the billboard company (10 out of 10 for blackmail).
View here: BDO blackmail letter to billboard company
Billboard company writes back refusing (EXTREMELY good reply – freedom of speech, and on the face of, it can’t tell who is actually in the wrong – so why stop someone lawfully stating their piece – especially if it warns other to be careful in engaging with BDO!).
View here: Billboard company response to BDO
8 March 2026
It was not worth the distraction of arguing about the copyright use of the BDO logo (despite us crossing it out) so we've pulled those billboards down and put these ones up instead.
Andy McKay - Ellerslie motorway, Auckland - 8 March 2026
Nick Innes-Jones, Rosedale motorway, Auckland - 8 March 2026
As of 1 January 2026 the New Zealand High Court has adopted an "evidence first" based approach to civil claims and you must now file all the evidence and documents that you want to rely on at the same time as your Statement of Claim.
We're all on track to have ours filed and served for the end of May.
BDO then have 30 working days (about 6 weeks) to get their Statement of Defence and evidence in (and they've already disclosed most of it in the CAANZ complaints process so they're bound to stick to that).
We should stick these billboards up in June to continue the awareness of this important issue:
BDO June 2026 billboard
Shall we advertise it during the 1News time slot (since all business people watch that) like we did the SRT raffle?
Your suggestions and feedback are welcome.
9 March 2026
Google Analytics is showing 3,400 Active Users on the website and a massive 26,000 Event Count.
Looks like awareness is going very good.
So many more people protected - EXCELLENT!
Google Analytics of Complaints website
18 March 2026
Looks like Tim Jones, CEO, BDO Auckland has made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (complainant details have been omitted, but he was certainly unhappy about the billboards ringing the billboard company on the Saturday they went up).
Complaint here: BDO complaint to the ASA
Our response to the complaint here: Digital Signs response to ASA 8-3-26
This is the outcome of the complaint: ASA outcome to BDO complaint
20 March 2026
There is a good level of media interest in this injustice.
NBR did us the favour of publishing a copy of the Andy McKay billboard internationally.
You can view a copy here if they remove it: NBR BDO billboard article
While we have had a run-in with NBR several years ago when they refused to remove ‘click-bait’ articles that were really not newsworthy (it is only being sensationalist to headline a ‘bankrupt, truck driver, lawyer'), apart from this shameful departure from the proper business/wealth stories they usually focus on, we do recommend their subscription service to those serious about being kept informed.
The Post picked it up on 16 March 2026.
This was then picked up by Going Concern also on the 16th and Law Fuel the next day on 17 March 2026.
I thought BusinessDesk was into bringing you the current business news - but maybe I was wrong?
Not sure what you think, but if I was involved in BDO marketing I would want to be oiling that squeaky wheel?
23 March 2026
On 13 May 2025 BDO issued a Press Release (copy here if they since remove it) that they were the Deal Advisory to Lumo (our largest competitor, remember) in the acquistion of digital billboard company Globox!
It is clear BDO could never have assisted us to acquire Globox, to further strenthen our market position, if they were assisting Lumo to do that exact same thing!
There is a clear conflict of interest in BDO purporting to be assisting us to grow while also doing the exact same thing for our main competitor!
31 March 2026
BDO REFUSE to attend mediation!!!!! (not surprising really - most people avoid meetings like that when they're embarrassed about the position they're in).
On 24 March 2026 our lawyer Steve Keall (clever chap) sent an open invitation to BDO's lawyer MinterEllisonRuddWatts for BDO to attend mediation to get a better understand of what transpired and (hopefully) resolve this dispute.
Copy here: Invitation to BDO to attend mediation_24 March 2026
31 March 2026 - NOPE!
And - get this - "They have also instructed us to communicate that they are not aware of the basis for Mr Jaques’ belief that he has a legal claim against BDO" (they WOULD if they attended mediation!)
Copy here: BDO REFUSE to attend mediation
BIG MISTAKE!
Had BDO said they would sit down with me, they would have seen how this stepped through, and how events ended up in me being seriously short-changed.
TBH: I find it astonishing that BDO still seem completely oblivious to their professional obligations, even after CAANZ issued their decisions on their conduct!
If this is the case, then it is even more important than ever that the public are warned prior to considering dealing with them!
More to come soon ...
13 April 2026
Steve Keall has completed his legal Opinion to us and said liability is extremely clear in this case.
To put it simply, BDO was absolutely prohibited from entering into an engagement to review their own work (so everything they did after this was unlawful).
This makes complete sense, when I was a lawyer, it was my job to act in the best interests (at all times) of my client, how could I ever therefore turn on them at any time and use my skills to sink them?
There is also a claim in negligence against the BDO Auckland partnership for McKay’s Report. Not only was it inaccurate, but given McKay is an experienced liquidator, it would be virtually impossible for him to ever be able to objectively review a business opportunity (as liquidators are so immersed in even the best of ideas failing). We will have to work through that too.
He has given us a quote to prepare all that is required to file the pleadings, we have paid that money, and he is now in the process of preparing them for filing (so these will be in closer to the middle of May now, rather than the end).
I told him I was extremely concerned that BDO had written saying they had no idea what they had done wrong. Steve recommended he approach them to share our view of liability (and I have approved that).
As I have previously said the High Court has moved to a new ‘evidence first’ case management model, and reviewing that I see the very first Case Management Conference is for a half day (not the previous 30 minutes), and parties are required to be there with their lawyers!
The Court will want to know if they have attempted mediation or had any settlement discussions.
BDO are of course free to do anything they want, but it will be interesting to see what they say to the Judge when liability is so clear yet they continue to say they have no idea what they’ve done wrong?
We will upload the pleadings as they are filed in May so diary a reminder to come back and have a look then.
18 May 2026
Excellent progress today – Statement of Claim filed with the Auckland High Court. Receipt here
Minter Ellison have asked to engage with our lawyer to properly understand the claim (about time).
Out of respect for the process I will hold off uploading the Statement of Claim and other documents just for now, but if they don’t sort things out, then I’ll upload them when I upload their Statement of Defence.
Our primary claim is Breach of Fiduciary Duty, with 2 other causes of action in Negligence and Breach of Contract.
If you want to see a copy of the Claim prior to this give me a yell.
29 May 2026
The Court have returned the filed Claim so it is now ready for service.
In the meantime Minter Ellison have provided the copy we gave them to Gilbert Walker and yesterday we received our first letter from them: here
If you don’t have time to read it, you can generally describe it as a BDO “Fk You” letter.
(We do not accept this correspondence as without prejudice. It does not contain any concessions or settlement discussions).
It is astonishing that their first and biggest paragraph is them claiming their client DOES NOT owe any fiduciary obligation to their clients!
Have they not read the CAANZ Code of Ethics & Professional Standards for Members?!
Section 210 (page 40) sets out in detail every member is required to avoid operating in an actual or potential (perceived) conflict of interest (para-phrased).
See section 210.8 on Disclosure and Consent. (Upon a conflict of interest arising, it must be disclosed to the Client, to obtain informed consent as to whether one or all of the members cease acting).
How the heck can Andy McKay purport to ‘independently’ review the work of partner Nick Innes-Jones, then the moment the 2 of them get into a disagreement about it, McKay instructs Innes-Jones to stop acting for their own client and leave him to hang out to dry?
Which part of the BDO engagement provided McKay with the right to decide to stop the provision of other services and how was that ever disclosed by EITHER partner at ANY time!?
How can BDO and/or Gilbert Walker seriously write that the “breach of fiduciary duty is hopeless”?
We are SERIOUSLY concerned at such an ignorant and cavalier attitude by BDO.
Our lawyers have written back (nice letter). You might well regard this as our “Fk you back” letter if you don’t have time to read it: here
You can also download the proceedings here:
High Court Proceeding Timeline
When I was a lawyer, I never had a litigation case that I would call ‘easy’ or ‘straight-forward’. It is human nature for people to dig their toes in, and it is typical that large organisations like BDO seek to use their power and connections to shut down anyone that seeks to complain about them.
Despite it clearly being a ‘David v Goliath’ situation, right from the time I walked out of McKay’s office in 2020, and I knew he was going to play up, I just accepted there was nothing I could do about it at the time, so instead I set about building my foundation of proof.
Today we have the CAANZ decision (I would not one of those against me if I was an accountant), the independent peer review of Forensic Accountant Paul Moriarity, and the valuation of losses by Sapere Research Group (this might even get up to $400m).
We have the money in the bank, and my outside interests (the build of the 4-person electric hovercraft) are coming along very nicely (to retain positive and balanced mental health during a process like this).
Rome was not built in a day, and even with the new High Court ‘evidence first’ model these things still take all of 24 months to get to a hearing and likely circa $200k on legal and expert evidence, so all you can do is buckle yourself in for the ride and deal with each matter as it arises.
BDO should take it on the chin (they’ve clearly dropped the ball) and instruct their insurers to settle it for as cheap as they can. The longer they keep trying to throw mud at one of their own clients, the more they showing how they intend to treat any future client that is unhappy with their work.
Thank you for the messages of support that have come through. Two other Kiwis who have also had significant trouble with BDO have been in contact and once we have their material into a clear and supported form this will be uploaded under Case Studies too.
CAANZ Decision
CAANZ said I can "provide any one (sic) with copies" here
Decision 1 here
Decision 2 here
(apparently I cannot identify who is who)
The law can be funny at times.
19 June 2026
They’re back writing to us again: here
And our response: here
The good news is they’ve stopped writing on a without prejudice basis (quite good, as a serious company should not be hiding behind this when stating their position).
The other good news is their letters are likely to start slowing down now (you can’t keep bleating that it’s not your fault – they need to just get on and defend it).
Let’s have a look at what they’ve said:
· Breach of fiduciary
- If you agreed to BDO ‘independently reviewing’ its own work then you are bound by the outcome?
No, sorry. Remember the facts? Kilmartin said he wanted McKay, I said, “But he works for BDO” (ie BDO can’t now say I’m a bad client after they’ve said I’m a good one?), and Kilmartin (recognizing the conflict) said, “Lucky you”.
I was happy to McKay to review the positive cashflow forecasts Innes-Jones had done for us in 2019 as Innes-Jones was thorough and competent, and his cashflow forecasts are correct.
What I DID NOT agree to was:
- McKay telling Innes-Jones he was to STOP working for us
- McKay failing to follow GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) in the recording of the Halo $600k discount (remember Paul Moriarity said Innes-Jones was correct and it was McKay that was wrong?)
- McKay focusing on historic or current accounting (ie you’re insolvent now) and not paying ANY attention to your forecast position (ie, imagine you had developed the cure for cancer. You have no money today, but you will have plenty as the contracted sales kick in? Should you be assessed as a worthless business today?).
- McKay was supposed to confirm Innes-Jones had properly recorded our financial position, and that our forecast financial position was solid (of course it was! Innes-Jones is clever and competent!). He was not supposed to develop a bad attitude, decide he was a ‘know-it-all’ God (remember the billboard?) and impartially report on the enterprise opportunity (yeah, right, like any Liquidator could ever see a business opportunity as possible/likely).
BDO do not appear to understand (Smith likely does, he’s just playing dumb to see if it will wash) that McKay simply could not take the review engagement AT ALL in the first place, so EVERYTHING that happened after that is invalid/unlawful.
· US to prove McKay was negligent
- NOPE – you’ve missed a step!
- If McKay did not work at the same firm as Innes-Jones (BDO), and he was not ‘senior’ to him (ie in a position to dictate to him), Innes-Jones would not have bowed down to his dictatorial rubbish, and would have kept on advocating that his position complied with GAAP, and the business was good!
- Let’s test that theory? PWC was doing the ‘independent review’ – they said the Halo discount could not be recorded as an asset on the Balance Sheet – Innes-Jones would have pushed back, told them they were dreaming, pointed to the GAAP handling of this discount (the difference between purchase price and registered valuation), and they would have resolved it, and moved forward.
- Is Innes-Jones competent? Yes
- Was he right on the $600k for Halo? Yes
- Was his 2019 forecasts showing 2021 profit correct? Yes
- Did the business have significant barriers to entry (resource consents) and USPs (Client Portal and proven 5x $1/ad model)? Yes
- To put it simply – there is NO WAY IN HELL any accountant could have said Innes-Jones was wrong, if they were not in a position to dictate to him and shut him down!
Do you see the conflict and negligence now?
· The IRD $191k PAYE debt PROVES you should not be in business
- Ha
- What do we know about high-growth tech companies? They’re frequently out of money.
- What is the first thing you miss out on paying if you’re busy investing in growth? Tax (naughty).
- Was the company under an arrangement? Yes
- Was it honouring that arrangement until COVID hit? Yes
- Did the IRD threaten merry hell and to liquidate the company since then? Yes
- Did they liquidate? No
- Is the company under an arrangement now? Yes
- So I get it – they’re naughty, but was it managed? Yes
- So the problem is?
· You have not given enough disclosure
- Ask me for anything you want, and you can have it for free right now (docs 55 and 70 were given the same day they winged about it).
· You’ve had so many Statutory Demands
- That’s not true?!
- The Accountant quoted $4k then invoiced $17k. We paid the agreed $4k and of course we withheld the rest. He won, we lost, we paid the balance (and $12k of legal for him not counting our own lawyer). I then met for coffee with him (after he’d won) and HE apologized to ME (tbh a very immature way to resolve a conflict/difference of opinion).
- IRD also thought a Stat Demand was a good way to collect PAYE. We ignored it (it was extremely inappropriate), started a voluntary payment, and they backed off (bullies).
- And, don’t forget, how is any of this relevant to the BDO conflict of interest and negligence (oh, that’s right, it’s not, we’re just flinging mud to burn you off!).
- Remember: If BDO had not absolutely stuffed up in 2020, BNZ WOULD have advanced the $10m, and we would be talking about ANY of this!
· Jaques is a bankrupt (or about to be)
- This is true.
- And do you think I would be bankrupt if I had $10m from BNZ invested in a business with high barriers to entry and abnormally high net profit (remember Innes-Jones was dribbling at the opportunity to be selling this same business for $85m - $255m in 2019!).
- Should I have started the Suicide Reduction Trust in 2024? Yes
- Was it reasonable to expect the initial $250k invested, to run the $2m house raffle, so the Trust could be self-funding, would be enough to complete the raffle? Maybe
- Should I have known MSM would push back so hard and refuse to run our paid raffle ads (instead returning the money we paid them)? Probably not
- When it became apparent the initial $250k was insufficient, should I have put another $400k in (thinking it would come right)? Maybe
- When it crashed and burnt, did I fess up to Wilson Parking (who were then caught up in the cashflow debacle)? Yes
- Could Wilsons have converted the payment to a donation? Yes
- Did they? No
- Can they be blamed for not supporting SRT? No
- Was it an error in judgment on my part for getting involved in SRT? Maybe
- I do not think it is uncommon for people that have gone through PTSD in the past to want to pay it forward when they see a path (seeking a better world)?
The primary plaintiff is the business. Of course the business has gone to zero income. A defendant cannot usually cause a plaintiff to go to zero income then complain they don’t have the money to cover costs (so should put up security for costs).
Having said that, we’ll give them $30k if they want?
The Family Trust that owns the company has money. Keall and Cowan have been paid (and it was over $25k to put those billboards up).
We might have to break open the kids’ piggy banks if BDO deploy the ‘see who can run out of money first’ defence, but one way or another we will be funding this through to the end!
I’m quite looking forward to seeing Innes-Jones on the stand:
· Are you a competent accountant? Yes
· In 2019 you considered this a highly profitable business didn’t you? Yes
· (not even counting you wanted to sell it, and asked what we were going to spend all the money we were about to make on)
· The Halo $600k discount can be properly recorded on the company Balance Sheet as an equity asset according to GAAP can’t it? Yes
· McKay was wrong saying, “No accountant in their right mind would say you can do that” wasn’t he? Yes
· You were giving Business Advisory services to us in 2020 weren’t you? Yes
· You attended our June 2020 Board Meeting didn’t you? Yes
· You were giving advice on how to handle the McKay review weren’t you? Yes
· If McKay had not directed you to stop providing services you would have kept advocating for us wouldn’t you? Yes
· If PWC were doing the review instead of McKay, you would have comfortably demonstrated to them this was a pearler of a business wouldn’t you? Absolutely yes
· (No further questions of this witness Your Honour)
(Wonder what the heck McKay thinks he going to say when he’s on the stand? Would it help if I wrote out the type of cross we’re going to level at him?)
Oh well, enough bleating for now. Our legal team has written a good letter back (‘this is all to be determined in the hearing’).
Looking at their costs breakdown, they’re going to file a Defence then a Strike Out (I wouldn’t if I was them).
Typical bully behaviour.
Like I’ve always said, don’t jump into the fire if you can’t stand the heat.
I can stand the heat!
I’m off to Vietnam for 2 weeks Sunday (shouting myself some new teeth so that I look pretty – there’s no point going for a new hair cut!) just like my mate Simon Gault did (we can both be handsome together).
We’ve got our 6 weeks in the UK (canal boats – should be relaxing) and a few other stops (somewhere warmer than the UK 12 degree ‘summer’).
And have you seen the hovercraft photo (above)? This is really coming along now! Final measurements have lowered the air chambers by circa 200mm meaning we can really pull the waist in tighter giving some really nice extra curves to it. While the entire thing is electric (2 @ 300mm contra-rotating lift and 2 @ 400mm single thrust) we’re going to power it with 24kW 48vdc twin diesel generators rather than LiFePO4 batteries (perpetual power instead of just 30 minutes). here
Turning 60 in December – finish off this exciting year with a bang?