National Finance defendant pleads guilty to SFO ch

National Finance defendant pleads guilty to SFO charges

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today said it was pleased that John Gray, the former Accountant for National Finance 2000 Limited (“National Finance”) had pleaded guilty in the District Court in Auckland to theft by a person in a special relationship, which related to misuse of National Finance funds in breach of its Trust Deed requirements.

Gray also pled guilty to a charge of False Accounting whereby he concealed the true recipient of funds by creating a false document.

SFO Chief Executive, Adam Feeley, said “This is a very satisfying result, and the outcome of a very comprehensive investigation.”

Mr Feeley said that in the past 12 months the SFO had significantly shifted its priorities to ensure there were speedier outcomes on the corporate failures which had generated the most public concern. “Results such as this demonstrate that there are serious consequences for breaching the law and help ensure the investing public can have greater confidence in the integrity of our financial markets.”

Mr Feeley said that the SFO were currently investigating 19 cases of suspected serious fraud involving an estimated $630M, and prosecuting a further 32 cases involving and estimated $265M.

“There are enormous challenges with cases of this scale and complexity. However, our strategy of focusing on fewer, but larger cases which have had greater public impact, and achieving faster results, is beginning to pay dividends.”

Former National Finance director, Trevor Ludlow, is also charged by the SFO with offences relating to the misuse of funds. A trial date has yet to be set.

ENDS

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