Bridgecorp directors Rod Petricevic and Rob Roest have pleaded not guilty to a number of new charges relating to allegations the company lied to investors in a prospectus.Today in the High Court at Auckland they pleaded not guilty to a total of 18 charges
Bridgecorp directors Rod Petricevic and Rob Roest have pleaded not guilty to a number of new charges relating to allegations the company lied to investors in a prospectus.
Today in the High Court at Auckland they pleaded not guilty to a total of 18 charges under the Crimes Act and the Companies Act.
The Crown alleges Bridgecorp lied about the state of its finances in a December 2006 prospectus and that it falsely claimed it had never defaulted on repayments of interest or principal to its investors.
The charges are separate to the fraud charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office against Messrs Petricevic and Roest last month and the 50 charges under the Securities Act laid against all five Bridgecorp directors (10 each).
The other directors are Bruce Davidson, Gary Urwin and Peter Steigrad.
Justice Rhys Harrison scheduled a 12-week High Court trial starting on July 4 next year.
He said the courtroom would need to be large to accommodate the large number of lawyers (three prosecution lawyers and up to 10 defence lawyers).
Justice Harrison also noted that “a number of judges” would be disqualified from sitting on the case.
The Crown's fraud charges carry a maximum of 10 years jail on each charge.
