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The Securities Commission has laid criminal charges against Lombard Finance & Investments directors Sir Douglas Graham, Michael Reeves, William Jeffries and Lawrence Bryant.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or fines of up to $300,000.
Sir Douglas, former chairman of Lombard Finance, was a former justice minister, minister in charge of treaty negotiations and attorney-general in the National government of the 1990s, while Jeffries was justice and transport minister in the preceding Labour government.
The criminal charges related to the same allegations as the civil proceedings announced earlier this week and were laid in the District Court at Wellington yesterday.
The commission acknowledged the assistance of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Lombard Finance & Investments receivers, with the investigation.
The directors have said they do not accept the allegations of the commission and will be defending all the proceedings.
The commission alleges that Lombard Finance & Investments' offer documents and advertisements misled investors by misrepresenting the investment risks, especially in relation to liquidity, the quality of the loan book, adherence to credit policies and the company's overall financial position, commission chairman Jane Diplock has said.
Lombard Finance & Investments went into receivership in April 2008 owing about $127 million to 4400 investors.
According to the receivers it was likely secured debenture holders would receive less than 30 per cent of their investment back. Unsecured creditors were likely to receive no return.
- NZPA
