MICHAEL Searle has begun a new corporate life in America after resigning as boss of the charity Titans 4 Tomorrow, cutting his last remaining ties with the embattled Titans.

The Titans founder has created a sporting agency in the US and is considering moving abroad after three tumultuous years that led to his demise at the Gold Coast NRL club.

Indigenous icon Preston Campbell is trying to pick up the pieces of the ailing charity, which is operating with a skeleton staff under the focus of a government investigation.

Searle amassed a property portfolio worth $16.5 million at the peak of his wealth, but the ex-accountant has listed his $2.5 million beachfront home on the Gold Coast for rent at $2000-a-week and recently sold another of his Currumbin properties for more than $1 million.

T4T operates largely on government grants to provide indigenous welfare programs but is under mounting pressure to stay afloat after the organisation’s Southport office was raided in August by the Australian Federal Police on behalf of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which on Thursday confirmed an investigation is ongoing.

media_camera Former Gold Coast Titan co-owner Michael Searle has cut all ties with the club.

Employees alleged they had not been paid for three weeks shortly before the AFP raid and had not received superannuation for the past 12 months.

Searle, who previously rejected a request from the Titans NRL club to have its moniker removed from the charity’s branding, said T4T had been affected by the cocaine scandal which engulfed the club this year.

“Given T4T has funded contracts for two more years, I think it will continue,” he said.

“I’d say the Titans brand may be removed at some time in the future but that’s a board and CEO decision. Unfortunately T4T lost a lot of funding after the cocaine scandal earlier this year but that’s the risk of being aligned to any brand.

“Now that this new CEO and board appointment have been formally ratified, I have advised the board that after consultation with my family and with Preston I have decided to retire from the T4T board as a result of the time pressure from my international travel obligations as a result of my sporting agency expansion into the USA sporting market.”

media_camera Preston Campbell, here at the NRL All Stars launch, is trying to save Titans 4 Tomorrow.

A month ago, Searle was planning to relocate to America fulltime but may continue travelling after two trips to the US in the past four weeks.

He manages former world surfing champion Joel Parkinson, who lost his $600,000 stake in the Titans when the club folded and was taken over by the NRL in February.

Searle’s resignation from T4T brings an official end to his ties with the club he worked exceptionally hard to found and clinch an NRL licence for in 2005. The T4T organisation was setup as the Titans’ charity arm in June 2010.

A series of poor decisions during the global financial crisis saw the Titans plunge into a $30 million debt, which eventually led to Searle resigning as club boss in July 2012.

Searle left the club permanently in August 2014, along with foundation coach John Cartwright, and the NRL severed operational links with T4T when it took control of Gold Coast’s licence.

Campbell, who was unable to be reached for comment, helped Searle to found the Indigenous All Stars exhibition game in 2010.

Campbell is a respected leader in the indigenous community and is reportedly doing all he can to ensure T4T does not fold.

T4T employed a number of ex-players but foundation Titans forward Anthony Laffranchi recently left the charity to take up a fulltime position with the NRL team.