[hukildaspida]

Couldn't find a Ministry of Justice thread so have put this under it's own.
We hope the rest of those involved in White collar crime go down the same road & have a stint at Her Majesty's confines.

There are plenty more to still be caught & prosecuted who are not Directors of Companies but are White & Blue collar crooks who think they are above the Law.

What we would like to know is how some of those whom have invested in these companies could possibly have the sizeable sums of money to spare that they have.
A million dollars is no small sum of money to be throwing around & the average New Zealander would not have such spare money if earnt in an honest manner.

It is a well known fact there are "business people" whom have evaded tax in their day to day transactions that should be investigated and if found to have committed dishonest offences they too should brought before the relevant Courts..


Justice Venning's decision on The Queen v Rodney Michael Petricevic

http://media.nzheral...%20decision.pdf

http://www.nzherald....jectid=10801520

Petricevic jailed for 6 and half years
By Hamish Fletcher
11:27 AM Thursday Apr 26, 2012

Bridgecorp's Rod Petricevic being sentenced in the High Court at Auckland this morning. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Former Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic has been jailed for six and a half years.

Petricevic was found guilty earlier this month on 18 charges for misleading investors and of knowingly making false statements that Bridgecorp had never missed a payment of interest or principal.

Some of the charges Petricevic was convicted of under the Crimes Act carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Justice Geoffrey Venning said Petricevic had not shown genuine remorse or taken true responsibility for his offending.

Reading out a statement from an out-of-pocket retired couple, who lost $250,000 when Bridgecorp collapsed, Justice Venning said the impact of Petricevic's offending on Bridgecorp investors had been serious.

"There is not a day they have woken up and not thought about it. It is the most depressing period of their lives," the judge said.

"Your offending has affected people not only financially but emotionally," Justice Venning said.

Petricevic's actions had also undermined faith in New Zealand's financial markets, the judge said.

Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey said interests associated with Petricevic had 60 per cent shareholding in Bridgecorp and the former director "had a personal interest in the maintenance of the company".

"The case is really a pinnacle of market fraud cases because of the nature of lies that were told to the trustee and the public," Dickey said.

Dickey asked for a starting point of eight years in prison.

Petricevic's lawyer, Charles Cato, admitted that his client's offending was serious but said a starting point of six years was more adequate.

Petricevic had shown regret for investor losses and had no previous convictions.

"When an older man, and Mr Petricevic is a man of 62, is imprisoned and falls from grace as he has done, is separated from family and friends, the fall is rather harder than someone younger and in any case there is less time for rehabilitation," Cato said.

Cato said adverse media attention since Bridgecorp's collapse had put strain on both Petricevic and his family and that was a kind of punishment in itself.

In considering the matter, Justice Venning believed a starting point of seven and a half years was appropriate.

He gave Petricevic credit for having no previous convictions and acknowledged prison would be hard for him.

He also took into account the harassment and personal threats Petricevic and his family had faced following investor losses and gave him a further discount.

Bridgecorp's financial controller Rob Roest was convicted on the same 18 charges as Petricevic, while fellow director Peter Steigrad was found guilty of six Securities Act charges.

Roest and Steigrad will be sentenced on May 18.

According to evidence tabled in the trio's four-month-long High Court trial, Bridgecorp began missing payments to investors on February 7, 2007. The company collapsed around five months later, owing $459 million to 14,500 investors.

Petricevic maintained in court he did not know about the missed payments in February and did not become aware of one set until he read about it in the newspaper. However, in what began something of a blame game in the trial, Roest said he told Bridgecorp's former managing director about issues with money going to investors on time.

Petricevic denied this Cato, suggested Roest may have a motive to implicate his fellow director, saying it was "human nature" for a co-accused to attempt to "mitigate their position" when standing trial. But Justice Venning ruled that Roest's evidence was reliable.

"Given the situation Bridgecorp faced at the time, it is logical that Mr Roest and Mr Petricevic would discuss Bridgecorp's cash flow and its commitments to investors ... Mr Roest had nothing to gain and no reason to withhold information regarding the missed payments from Mr Petricevic," the judge said.

Although Petricevic accused the finance director of being more "hands-on" than he was at Bridgecorp, both faced the same fate - guilty of all the 18 charges they faced.

When Petricevic, Roest and Steigrad were found guilty, out-of-pocket Bridgecorp investors called for lengthy jail sentences.

One investor, Rex Warren lost $1 million in the company and said the guilty verdict was the right outcome but it brought little closure.

"Of course they're guilty, but the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

"I would be willing to pull the lever or pull the trigger if they were hung," said the Katikati man.

Warren believed his loss could have been avoided.

"I can say we made mistakes, but in my case most of the (Bridgecorp) staff knew what was happening when we invested our money but they didn't say anything."

Former Bridgecorp director Gary Urwin, who pleaded guilty to misleading investors and was sentenced to two years' jail, has indicated he will appeal this.

Former Bridgecorp chairman Bruce Davidson pleaded guilty the same charges and was sentenced to nine months' home detention last October and ordered to pay $500,000 reparations and perform 200 hours of community work.
By Hamish Fletcher | Email Hamish

[not their victim]

the sentences handed down to the these thieves is pathetic!

white collar crime is pre meditated, deliberate,and devastating on those ripped off


according to some top wig...its a sort of typical sentence lenght for this sort of crime in nz!

Judges, get hard for Gods sake.....how would you like your old granny to be sitting in front of a one bar heater with a cat for company over winter, as she has no phone, cant afford to run the power, and bugger all to eat!

to those genuine claimants, who have already paid your levies...you too are the subjects of WHITE COLLAR CRIME....and its run by our government!

petition coming up......