VICTIMS of failed Perth tycoon Alan Bond say he should be remembered as Australia's worst corporate criminal and not the man who won the nation its first America's Cup.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the America's Cup win and Bond has opened up about the 1983 victory, admitting his hero status may have affected his business judgment but saying he is determined not to dwell on the past and to "look forward only''.

He also spoke about life without his wife, Di Bliss, who took her life last year after battling depression.

In April this year, former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke praised the disgraced tycoon and described him as an "outstanding Australian'' for bringing together the winning America's Cup team.

But victims of Bond say his America's Cup accolades should not outshine the trail of debt and misery he left behind.

Perth retiree Barrie Markey, 77, was one of hundreds of small investors who lost out after buying shares in Bond Corporation.

They became worthless when Bond's global business empire collapsed under a mountain of debt.

"The share certificates are buried in some cardboard box or another. I've still got the paperwork but it's about as valuable as the wallpaper covering the cracks,'' he said.

Mr Markey bought a total of about 5000 shares in the 1980s after Bond took over the Swan Brewery. The shares cost the former teacher and father-of-three about $7000.

"I thought it sounded like a good investment. They paid dividends of about 10 per cent each year but there was nothing of substance in the company - it was all borrowed money,'' Mr Markey said.

"He had these interwoven companies and trusts and God knows what else. Everything was owned by trusts, which meant outside creditors couldn't get at it.

"I'm only one of many. Luckily it was money that I could afford to lose. I would say a heck of a lot more people lost a lot more than me.''

However, Mr Markey said he was no longer bitter about Bond.

"I don't think of him. He's in the past,'' the Claremont pensioner said.

"If I was dwelling on it, I'd be screwing up my own life. Don't get your bile up or your guts screwed up in a ball.

"I stopped being bitter about it many years ago, but I do believe it's important to keep reminding each new generation what he did, because people forget.''

In the wake of the collapse, Bond - who was once the nation's largest brewer and set up Australia's first privately-funded university - was declared bankrupt and in 1997 he was jailed for what was described as Australia's biggest corporate fraud.

Camera Icon Alan Bond arrives at his grandson Jeremy's wedding. PICTURE: Sean Middleton Credit: PerthNow

Bond returned to business and Business Review Weekly's Rich list in 2007 after serving almost four years in prison for corporate fraud, but the ventures soured once again and shareholders turned on him.

One shareholder accused him of "rape and pillage'' of the company in an email to shareholders.

Another said: "He hasn't learnt his lesson. He operates as if the 1980s never went away. He's like Gordon Gekko greed is good. He has a complete lack of understanding that the world has moved on.''

Henry Bosch, who as chairman of the former National Companies and Securities Commission led the investigations into Bond's corporate fraud, also hit out at Bond when he returned to the BRW Rich 200 list.

"My first reaction is of sympathy to the thousands who lost their life savings,'' Mr Bosch said at the time.

"I think it's a defect of our system that a man can pay his creditors half a cent in the dollar and then go on to flaunt his riches.''

Also in 2007, expat Australian businessman Greg Kennedy, who was living in Singapore and was one of Alan Bond's best mates, spoke out because he wanted his old friend brought to account.

"I used to believe what most Australians believed: that Bond was a bit loud, a bit of a larrikin, a bit of a hero,'' Kennedy said.

"Now I think he's a master manipulator and a fraud, who should be stopped before he does any more damage to anyone.''

ALAN BOND: HOW IT HAPPENED

1938 Born in London, England.

1950 Emigrates to Australia aged 12 with his parents and sister.

1955 Marries Eileen Hughes, both 17. They went on to have four children: John, Craig, Susanne and Jody.

1959 Forms what was to become Bond Corporation.

1960s-70s Amasses a fortune mainly in property development, becoming one of Australia's most prominent businessmen.

1978 Selected as an Australian of the Year.

1980s WA Inc political scandal unfolds after it is revealed the state government, led by former Premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen - including Bond - which resulted in a loss of public money estimated at more than $600 million.

1983 Bankrolls the successful bid for the 1983 America's Cup, becoming a public hero in his adopted country.

1987 Pays $1 billion for Kerry Packer's Channel Nine television network; buys Vincent van Gogh's painting, Irises, for $54 million but fails to repay loan from the auctioneer.

1990 Sells Nine back to Packer for $700 million as his business empire collapses.

1992 Declares bankruptcy; divorces Eileen.

1995 Family buys him out of bankruptcy, with creditors accepting a payment of $12 million, just over half a cent per dollar owed.

1995 Marries Diana Bliss, a public relations consultant and theatre producer.

1997 Sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding Bell Resources after siphoning $1.2 billion was siphoned into Bond Corporation.

2000 Released from Karnet Prison Farm having served four years in prison.

2000 Daughter Susanne dies from a suspected accidental overdose of prescription medication.

2003 Inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame.

2004 Secures interests in companies including Madagascar Oil and Global Diamond Resources.

2008 Returns to Business Review Weekly's "Rich 200 List'' at 157th place with an estimated wealth of $265 million.

2010 Loses his second fortune, with several companies he was involved with going bust or into liquidation owing millions of dollars; a former friend and associate describes him as "a master manipulator who should be stopped before he does any more damage to anyone''.

2012 Di Bliss is found dead in the couple's swimming pool at their Perth mansion after taking her own life; A court appeal backfires for 20 banks who are ordered to pay up to $3 billion to the liquidators of Bond's former company Bell Group.

2013 Lives in seclusion following the death of his wife but opens up about her battle with depression, describing it as like living in a ``black hole''.