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The SFO has charged five people involved with South Canterbury Finance's affairs. - Source: ONE News
Timaru lawyer Ed Sullivan and retired accountant Bob White have been revealed as two of the South Canterbury Finance (SCF) five accused facing charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office.
The identities of the two men could be revealed after their name suppression ended at 10am today.
The SCF five were to appear in Timaru District Court today however the registrar received applications to remand the defendants to Monday May 28, for a post committal conference.
They have been charged in connection with what is alleged to be the biggest corporate fraud in New Zealand history, with 21 charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on December 7 relating to various transactions alleged to be worth $1.7 billion.
All defendants have issued press releases through their lawyers denying the allegations and signalling they will be defended.
Edward Oral Sullivan, 70, was on the SCF board for 20 years. He faces nine charges, the most of the five defendants. Five charges are for failing to declare related party transactions in SCF prospectuses; for $220 million to Southbury Group and Woolpak, $34m to Woolpak, $64m to Woolpak, $65m to Woolpak, and $19m to Shark Wholesalers.
Sullivan is also charged with transferring $6.8m worth of shares from Woolpak to Hellaby Holdings and inaccurately reporting impairment levels of $56.6m and $77.9m in a SCF prospectus. He is jointly charged with failing to declare $64m in related party transactions to Woolpak and with two others is charged with entering the Crown deposit guarantee scheme by deception.
Robert (Bob) Alexander White, 68, was on the SCF board for 16 years. He faces four charges; a joint charge of entering the government guarantee scheme by deception, failing to declare related party lending in prospectuses of $64m to Southbury and Woolpak and $19.1m to Shark Wholesalers and $39m to Hilltop Hotels.
His lawyer, Wellington QC Bruce Squire, said in a statement, the reasons why suppression orders were initially granted by the court no longer applied and as with the other defendants White believed it was appropriate it be known he is one of the five charged. White denied he was guilty of any criminal conduct or dishonesty and would defend the charges. He looked forward to the trial when he would have the opportunity to establish his innocence, Squire said.
''Mr White was most disappointed to have been charged with offences arising from the collapse of South Canterbury Finance.''
Now that suppression has been lifted, details of the charges the other accused face can be revealed.
Former SCF chief executive Lachie McLeod, 48, faces five charges and is jointly charged with entering the crown guarantee by deception, and breaching the crown guarantee scheme with an advance from SCF of $39m to Hilltop Hotels.
He is also jointly charged with false accounting and transferring a loan from SCF of $10m to Kelt Finance, which was then advanced to Southbury, a joint charge of creating a false entry after an advance of $25m from SCF to Hilltop Hotels, and theft by a person in a special relationship in relation to a loan of $12m from SCF to Dairy Holdings.
Former SCF chief financial officer Graeme Brown, 44, faces one joint charge of false accounting and transferring a loan from SCF of $10m to Kelt Finance, which was then advanced to Southbury.
Timaru chartered accountant Terry Hutton, 59, faces two charges and is also jointly charged with false accounting and transferring a loan from SCF of $10m to Kelt Finance, which was then advanced to Southbury and a charge of creating a false entry after an advance of $25m from SCF to Hilltop Hotels.
The SFO spent 14 months investigating the case after SCF
collapsed on August 31, 2010, triggering a $1.6 billion taxpayer
bailout.
