The allegations have flown both ways and last Friday Petricevic's lawyer, Charles Cato, labelled Roest a central figure within the company, who had "his finger well and truly on the financial pulse of Bridgecorp".
Cato also said Roest, as finance director, had a more hands-on role at Bridgecorp than Petricevic, whose job was to grow the business.
"Mr Petricevic was not hands-on ... the people that were hands-on were Mr Roest and Mr Jeffcoat [the former general manager of Bridgecorp]," he said.
But Roest's lawyer, Rowan Butler, told the court during closing submissions yesterday that his client was the "most junior of all the directors" and had been in the role less than a year when payment issues emerged.
Roest had "nothing to gain from silence" and would have "of course" informed Petricevic, whose office was right next door, Butler said.
In response to Crown accusations that Roest misled investors in Bridgecorp's offer documents, Butler said his client had acted with honest intent.
The allegedly misleading prospectus, registered in December 2006, went through a corporate due diligence process that was "extensive, well supervised [and] done in good faith," Butler said.
The due diligence involved Bridgecorp staff and managers signing off on statements in the prospectus line-by-line.
There was also external input on the document from auditors, solicitors, the trustee and the Ministry of Economic Development, Butler said.
"It is submitted that the board, including Mr Roest, could be satisfied and were satisfied that when the prospectus was registered it was accurate."
In wrapping up his submissions, Butler said if it was reasonable for Crown investigators to rely on Bridgecorp staff when preparing for a criminal trial, "surely it was reasonable to rely on them when running a company".
Bridgecorp director Peter Steigrad's lawyer is due to give his closing statements today, in what is expected to be the final day of the trial.
Steigrad faces charges for allegedly misleading investors in Bridgecorp's offer documents.
After closing submissions, Justice Geoffrey Venning has indicated he will deliver his verdict on April 5.