Aren't they just ... with the Herald Sun closely behind. Very interesting (not sure in what way, but interesting nevertheless).
I'm pasting the contents of the article ozazure as they (at first) look to only be accessible to subscribers:
The husband of missing Melbourne woman Karen Ristevski gained control of her business a few months before she disappeared, and the couple’s business history has been marked with bitter disputes and allegations of *insolvent trading, The Weekend Australian can reveal.
Company documents show Ms Ristevski’s company, Warrant Brands, is one of a series of business ventures in which she and husband Borce Ristevski have been involved, which include failed plans to sell pecan nuts to China and to sell a line of clothing using the name of former tennis star Mark Philippoussis.
Paperwork declaring Mr Ristevski had taken over from his wife as the sole director of *Warrant Brands, which is linked to her Bella Bleu fashion label, was filed with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission in March.
Mr Ristevski previously ran the similarly named company Warrant, which was closed by the Victorian Supreme Court in September 2012 after legal action by Ms Ristevski’s former best friend, lawyer Natalie Bannister, and Ms Bannister’s then partner, art dealer Mark Norton.
The liquidators appointed by the court, Bruno Secatore and Daniel Juratowitch of Cor Cordis, alleged to ASIC there was some evidence of insolvent trading — continuing to run a business while it is unable to pay its bills.
But ASIC took no action as a result of the May 2013 report.
Ms Bannister, who is a partner at Melbourne law firm Hall & Wilcox, Mr Norton and Mr Ristevski were directors of Korse International. It is believed the company was formed to sell Australian pecan nuts in China.
The partnership soured after a dispute over an alleged $100,000 loan Korse made to Warrant, and Mr Ristevski left Korse just before Christmas 2011.
The Weekend Australian has learnt Warrant was also the *vehicle through which Mr Ristevski explored setting up a clothing line using Philippoussis’s name. However, it is believed the tennis player’s then manager, Peter *Stoicos, backed out of the deal.
Mr Ristevski and his brother Vasko also co-owned Blue Laser Jean Company, which collapsed in 2000 owing almost $600,000, The Australian has reported.
Borce Ristevski has stridently defended his financial position and rejected any notion his family is heavily in debt.
He has told police his wife left the family home in Melbourne’s northwest at 10am on June 29 with $850 after an argument about the previous day’s till takings at the Bella Bleu shop. Mr Ristevski is said to be angry this has been characterised in the media as a disagreement over *“financial issues”.
A statement of affairs Mr *Ristevski filed with ASIC after Warrant was wound up paints a picture of the company as having little in hard assets but plenty of debt. Stock on hand — clothing including 200 pairs of flares, 58 pairs of short overalls and 72 fur-lined jackets — was valued on the books at $4000 but was expected to fetch just $100, he said.
Meanwhile, debts totalled more than $800,000. This included almost $500,000 owed to Westpac and about $230,000 owed to the Ristevskis.
Korse was owed $40,000, *although Mr Ristevski also claimed that at the same time it owed Warrant more than $60,000.
Mr Ristevski listed total assets of just $115,000, mostly debts he appeared to think were unrecoverable, including $27,000 owed by Mr Stoicos.
It is believed police have not *interviewed Ms Bannister, Mr Norton or Mr Stoicos, who all *declined to comment to The Weekend Australian.
In March 2012, five months* *before Korse asked the court to wind up Warrant, Ms Ristevski set up the new company, Warrant Brands. She was the sole director and shareholder.
On March 21 this year, the company’s accountant filed paperwork recording Mr Ristevski had replaced his wife as director on February 23. Ms Ristevski remains the shareholder. Mr Ristevski certified the information in the form was “true and complete”.
He declined to comment yesterday on any business affairs, which he previously has accused The Australian of mis*reporting.
The intense interest in the case has dragged the family’s personal affairs into the spotlight.
Allegations of an “unnatural” relationship between Ms Ristevski and her stepson, Anthony Rickard, have been unearthed and aired in public, although other family members dispute Mr Rickard’s version of events.
Mr Ristevski has even endured being asked at a televised press conference whether he killed his wife, a question he answered with stunned silence.
One family member suspected police of leaking confidential *information about the case to the media.
Amid intense media scrutiny, police have spent eight weeks seeking Ms Ristevski, twice searching the Maribyrnong River for her body. However, detectives seem no closer to finding her, dead or alive.
Ms Ristevski’s family is divided on her fate.
While police have not ruled out foul play, Mr Rickard, who is an ice addict, said he believed his stepmother had simply walked away. His police statement, *obtained by The Australian, painted the relationship between his *father and stepmother as strained, saying they had stayed together only for money, image and their 21-year-old daughter Sarah.
Other relatives rejected the notion she would leave Sarah, with the two said to be close.
Family friends on social media have also poured scorn on claims made by Mr Rickard, with many saying his story has no credibility.
Concern for Ms Ristevski’s welfare overflowed on the Facebook page of Love Your Sister, the breast cancer charity run by actor Samuel Johnston in honour of his sister Connie.
Ms Ristevski “kindly donated mastectomy-friendly frocks from her own designer range Bella Bleu Boutique Melbourne so I could feel good at all the fundraisers” in 2013, Ms Johnston said in a post. “We’ve laughed together, dressed and undressed together, and shared our highs and lows’’.
A Victoria Police spokes*woman said the Missing Persons Squad’s investigation remained ongoing. “There are no updates,’’ she said.
