A house flipper and social media influencer whose companies are in liquidation featured Du Val Group founder Kenyon Clarke in one of his viral videos.
Clarke and his wife, Du Val Group co-founder Charlotte, have had their assets frozen and their passports seized by the court as part of an investigation by the financial watchdog into the collapse of their property development companies in 2024. The group of about 70 entities owe more than $300 million to hundreds of people.
However, the investigation has not stopped Clarke from providing his personal views on matters unrelated to Du Val.
In a video posted on YouTube in October 2025, property trader and coach Ashly Dean Binnie (who goes under the name Ashley Dean) asks Clarke for help.
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Binnie is well known in investor circles for his YouTube channel, AshleyDean. His videos offer tips to property newbies and often highlight how much profit he’s made from flipping homes.
Binnie and Clarke discussed property investment in the video, which was made private or deleted this week after OneRoof reporting. Photo / Supplied
Binnie, in his car in the video, says he is going to meet a "dear friend" for advice. Photo / Supplied
In his October 2025 video, Binnie does not name Clarke, simply telling his viewers that he is going to meet a “dear friend” for advice.
"Catching up with a dear friend to talk about some business structure stuff and just all kinds of fun things because that’s what we do," Binnie says.
Binnie can then be seen discussing property investment with Clarke in the lounge of a well-dressed home. Binnie and Clarke are sitting on two cream sofas arranged around a coffee table with a chess set and several coffee-table books, including one on Louis Vuitton.
Clarke, who has a bushy beard but a sharp haircut, is wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and appears relaxed as he looks at information on Binnie's Mac laptop.
Clarke talks to Binnie about Binnie refinancing a renovated house to get some money out of it. The two men discuss how Binnie could get more money from holding a property and refinancing it than from selling it after the selling costs were taken off.
OneRoof reached out to Clarke and Binnie for comment, but they had not responded at the time of publication.
However, the video and Binnie's social media channels have been deleted or hidden from public view since OneRoof reported on Binnie's financial troubles.
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Binnie’s company, Ascend Advisory Limited – previously known as AshleyDean Limited – was placed into liquidation last month after the liquidator’s initial report found it could not meet its debt obligations.
According to the liquidator’s report, Ascend Advisory owes the Inland Revenue Department $392,982, secured creditors $856,575 and unsecured creditors $559,895.
Binnie’s second company, Atlas Holdings, described as a holding company operation with a passive income in subsidiaries, collapsed less than two weeks after Ascend Advisory was placed in liquidation.
OneRoof asked the Financial Market Authority if Clarke could give business advice while he was under investigation.
FMA head of enforcement Margot Gatland said none of the court orders in place in respect of Du Val Group or Clarke prevented him from providing comment on personal matters unrelated to Du Val.
She added that there were confidentiality orders in place regarding the FMA’s investigation into Du Val and related persons.
Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke. Photo / Supplied, Instagram
The emergence of Binnie's Clarke video has sparked warnings from New Zealand's investing community.
Opes Partners economist Ed McKnight told OneRoof: “If I were an investor, it would certainly give me pause if I saw a property coach getting advice from someone who is being investigated by the Financial Markets Authority.”
NZ Property Investors Federation advocacy manager Matt Ball also warned against taking financial advice from random people on the internet.
“If you want to speculate, try cryptocurrency or shares, not property,” he said.
Ball said property investing wasn’t a "get rich quick" scheme and involved hard work and risk for both buy-and-hold landlords and buy-renovate-and-sell investors.
People who wanted to learn how to be a landlord investor could join a local property investors association, which are not-for-profit and run by ordinary investors happy to share their experiences, he said.
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