Not guilty pleas from Dominion Finance directors

Photo / Dean Purcell

The directors of collapsed Dominion Finance and North South Finance have entered not guilty pleas in the Auckland District Court to allegations they misled investors, but it will be more than a year before the case goes to trial.

The Securities Commission announced in July it had laid criminal charges against directors Vance Arkinstall, Rick Bettle, Terry and Ann Butler, Paul Forsyth and Robert Barry Whale relating to offer documents and advertisements which they said were misleading.

The Serious Fraud Office is also investigating related party transactions undertaken by Dominion Finance.

The criminal charges laid by the commission carry a maximum five-year jail term or a fine of up to $300,000.

The directors were not in court today, and entered their not guilty pleas through their defence team.

Justice Pamela Andrews adjourned the case to March 18 next year, to give the defence counsel time to view the prosecution's briefs of evidence.

However the matter may not go to trial until 2012, because a defence counsel member for Dominion Finance is working on the Lombard Finance case in Wellington during the proposed October trial.

Justice Andrews expressed concern that the matter could be delayed by such a long period of time.

However if there was no alternative then a six-week trial date, possibly beginning in February 2012, would be set down at the next call-over.

Dominion was placed in receivership in September 2008 owing $176.9 million to around 5900 investors. Receivers expect that less than 25c in the dollar will be paid back.

Its sister company North South Finance went into moratorium in December 2008 and into receivership on July 8, one day after the commission announced it had pressed charges.

Bettle, who is chairman of North South Finance, said at the time that continuing the moratorium under the direction of the directors in the light of the charges was inappropriate.