Businessman with a history 'back home to help' | Canterbury Cars | 4WD, Green Cars and Motorcycling in Canterbury

A businessman who said he could raise $400 million to save a struggling English soccer club has returned to his hometown of Christchurch saying he wants to assist earthquake-hit residents.

Victor Cattermole presented himself in the British press as a Hong Kong-based businessman and potential saviour of the Portsmouth Football Club when it was put into administration in 2010 - but the deal did not come to fruition.

He has now set himself up in Christchurch as a "consumer advocate" for those with quake-damaged properties.

The Securities Commission has twice banned advertising in New Zealand by entities associated with Mr Cattermole.

Companies Office records show more than a dozen firms to which he has been connected have been struck off the register.

He introduced himself at a recent community meeting in the severely quake-damaged Christchurch suburb of Brooklands by saying he had returned to the city at a cost to himself to help other Cantabrians.

Mr Cattermole refused to the speak to the Herald when approached this week.He is now the sole director of Consumer Advocates Ltd, incorporated in November, which states on its website that it assists clients with negotiations, rebuild or repair of their homes.

In 2003, the Securities Commission banned advertising for an investment scheme appearing on the website www.endeavorplan.com because "it does not comply with the law".

"To be offered in New Zealand the scheme must have a registered prospectus and an investment statement. These documents are not available," the commission said.

"This website appears to be administered by a company in the West Indies called Endeavor Portfolio Corporation Limited. The website also states that its founder is Victor Cattermole."

The investment scheme invited the public to contribute funds via credit card, which would then be invested in a British Virgin Islands fund called CSA Absolute Return Fund Ltd.

This company collapsed in 2005 with almost $50 million missing, and founder Charles Schmitt was sent to prison for almost seven years for stealing $1.5 million.

Mr Cattermole said several years ago that the Endeavor Plan was linked to Schmitt's scheme for a only a short period.

In 1997, the Commerce Commission warned that the Endeavor Plan risked breaching the Fair Trading Act because it included pyramid selling.

It went on to say that if the plan continued to be promoted in the same form, the commission would have to consider taking court action to stop it.

In 1995, the High Court ordered Mr Cattermole to move out of Erskine College, a former Catholic girls' school in Wellington.

He had signed a $1 million contract to buy the place but never paid, even though he moved into the priest's flat on the grounds.