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A man extradited from Australia on fraud charges has been told to pay $50,000 to defrauded customers or go to jail.
Jason Paul Burns, 34, admitted two representative fraud charges relating to the theft of almost $100,000 when he appeared in Nelson District Court today.
Burns was extradited from Australia to face 70 charges stemming from the collapse of Nelson company Vision Aluminium, The Nelson Mail reported.
The company's collapse in late 2003 left 11 staff out of work and resulted in more than 30 complaints to police.
The charges relate to Burns fraudulently claiming funds from Christchurch-based company Pacific Retail Finance, which paid out for joinery that had not been installed, as well as from 20 individuals who paid deposits for joinery work that was never done.
Judge David McKegg said the $50,709.65 reparation Burns had offered to pay would cover all the individual losses incurred during the time covered by the charges.
He adjourned the case until September 12 and excused Burns's appearance if he had paid the reparation by then.
He said Burns had already spent three months in custody and two years on restricted bail and if the reparation was paid, he would not impose a custodial sentence.
- NZPA
