18 February 2011

Peter Edward Hynes was today sentenced in the Christchurch District Court to three years imprisonment in relation to a $1.6m fraud.

Mr Hynes had pleaded guilty on 9 November 2010 to 40 charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and had been remanded on bail prior to sentencing.

The SFO, working with the NZ Police and Interpol, had previously extradited Hynes from Australia.

The charges against Mr Hynes stem from his activities while he was the Managing Director of MacPherson Marine Limited, a marine retailer based in Christchurch.

MacPherson Marine Limited went into liquidation soon after Hynes’ actions were discovered.

SFO Chief Executive, Adam Feeley, said that while the case involved relatively modest losses, it exemplified the huge social and economic impacts that fraud has on individuals.

“This case resulted in job losses, and forced some victims into selling their homes. Fraud is a social evil which should never be under-estimated.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media