The New Zealand Law Society is refusing to disclose which Blue Chip-linked lawyers have been referred to it by the Serious Fraud Office - despite the silence possibly implicating up to 140 law firms and lawyers.The SFO announced yesterday that it had deci
The New Zealand Law Society is refusing to disclose which Blue Chip-linked lawyers have been referred to it by the Serious Fraud Office - despite the silence possibly implicating up to 140 law firms and lawyers.
The SFO announced yesterday that it had decided not to lay charges against the Blue Chip group or anybody involved, saying there was insufficient evidence to do so.
But that may not be the end of it for some of the people involved in the collapsed group of finance companies.
Making the announcement, SFO director Adam Feeley noted the SFO had referred matters of professional conduct of lawyers involved in the Blue Chip developments to the NZ Law Society for inquiry.
Geoff Adlam, communications manager for the Law Society, said he couldn’t name the lawyers the SFO had referred to the Law Society.
He also wouldn’t say how many lawyers there were, what the “matters of professional conduct” related to or if there would be any investigation by the relevant regulatory bodies.
One Blue Chip-linked lawyer has already been punished for his part in the sorry saga.
Jonathan Mathias, brother to TV personality Peta Mathias, was found guilty of multiple counts of misconduct by the Lawyers and Conveyancers’ Disciplinary Tribunal earlier this year.
He admitted to 13 charges of misconduct including acting when there was a conflict of interest, acting in breach of trust, failing to disclose fees and commissions he was
receiving and charging for work he had not done.
The tribunal struck him off as a lawyer and slapped him with a costs bill of $20,000.
Blue Chip had referred Mr Mathias to clients as an “independent” legal adviser but he admitted to the tribunal that he had failed to properly scrutinise documents.
Investors have taken legal action against a number of lawyers and law firms recommended to them by Blue Chip.
Auckland lawyer Zeljan Unkovich was recently ordered by Auckland District Court Judge David Wilson to pay $160,000 to two Blue Chip investors after failing to warn them of the risks in their investment.
However, he told NBR he wasn't one of the lawyers that had been referred to the Law Society by the SFO.
When asked if he knew the names of the lawyers who had, he said, "Not at all. I think off the top of my head there's about 140 law firms that acted for Blue Chip clients."
