Rod Petricevic's lawyer has been granted leave to withdraw from his client's case, after the former Bridgecorp boss failed in his bid to secure legal aid.
Petricevic had been unable to get legal aid because, despite being bankrupted, the Legal Aid Agency found that a family trust has assets.
A financial report for the year ending March 31, 2009, revealed the trust had a total equity of $5.2 million, owning six rental properties in Auckland which were valued at more than $1 million with mortgage liabilities of $535,000.
Charles Cato was granted leave to withdraw from representing Petricevic at his Serious Fraud Office trial, set down for early next year, at the Auckland District Court today.
Petricevic is also due to stand trial in October on Financial Markets Authority charges alleging he and other former directors misled investors about Bridgecorp's financial health.
