Guvera accountants face possible Class Action

Guvera crashed and burned its way through a fortune. Now, a law firm is trying to claw-back some of the cash.

Bannister Law says it is exploring a class action against “a number of accounting firms” and AMMA Private Equity Pty Ltd, the private equity company which from 2009 to 2016 “raised $185.3 million on behalf of Guvera,” according to a statement posted on its website.

According to the law firm, its initial probe reveals that accountants were providing advice to their clients on the prospects of this investment. “We are investigating as to how the money was raised and any advice provided to consumers when considering the investment” said Charles Bannister of Bannister Law, in a statement. The law firm also quoted a former Guvera shareholder Mark Cohen, who said he was a “simple investor and lost $30,000 of my superannuation savings on the poor advice of my accountants”.

Bannister Law, which has run class actions targeting Volkswagon, Ford, Nurofen and others, invites Guvera investors to register their details.

It was unclear on what grounds any action might be taken.

The streaming music service Guvera was founded by Claes Loberg, Darren Herft and Brad Christiansen in 2008 and launched two years later. The lights went out at the streaming app in May, nearly a year after the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) blocked the company’s bid to go public. When the dust settled, Guvera had reportedly chewed up more than $180 million from about 3,000 investors, many of whom are demanding to know where the money went.

ASIC launched later a probe understood to be focusing on alleged commissions and other fees paid to accountants for referring their clients to a Guvera-linked investment company, AMMA Private Equity, according to the ABC.

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This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.