Australian lawyer Julie Read has taken the helm of the Serious Fraud Office at a time when its future has yet to be charted.

A controversial cancer charity will not face prosecution after it voluntarily de-registered as a charity during a probe into its spending.

Thousands of dollars worth of roading materials destined for a ratepayer-funded project were delivered to home renovations of a senior council manager, a whistleblower claims.

A bankrupt property developer who used fronts and false information to borrow money as part of a $50 million loan scheme has been found guilty this morning.

Netsafe is getting a large number of reports where offenders try to use an eBay "protected programme" to obtain money.

A jury for a trial of two men accused of failing to declare their de-facto relationship in order to claim benefits has failed to reach a verdict on all but one charge.

A Labour Party candidate in the first Super City elections has been found guilty of two counts of using forged documents but has been acquitted on 18 other electoral fraud allegations.

'It's frustrating as hell,' says a 90-year-old victim of Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff, who's one of legions of investors still hurting five years on.

A Napier retailer warns a man claiming to be from "Google business" is offering a preferential listing for $295 - which must be paid via paypal. Ignore calls like this.

The man who took a successful private prosecution against John Banks has threatened to take one over Labour leader David Cunliffe's by-election tweet.

Act Leader John Banks' decision to leave Parliament at the next election under the cloud of electoral fraud charges is not the end of the party, its president John Boscawen says.

Agency failed to consider key evidence in $1.7 billion South Canterbury Finance investigation.

The High Court has ruled embattled Act Party leader John Banks should stand trial on electoral fraud charges next year but the trial will likely be fast-tracked.

The way Frank DiPascali tells it, Bernard Madoff planted the seeds of deception for his $17 billion Ponzi scheme back in the 1970s.

Police asset freezing action against two jailed Capital + Merchant directors is unprecedented.

A High Court judge has made restraining orders over property linked to two jailed Capital + Merchant Finance directors, with the police looking to eventually seize the assets.

A financial adviser who spent some of the $4.7million he stole from investors on flash cars and a lavish lifestyle was not entirely motivated by personal gain, his lawyer has told the Court of Appeal.

Australian-based agribusiness Elders has fallen to an annual loss of A$505 million ($568 million), but says big costs from its restructuring are behind it.

Ponzi-scheme operator David Ross, who committed one of NZ's biggest financial swindles, has been handed more jail time than anyone else to face a Serious Fraud Office prosecution.

The man behind NZ's largest Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in jail - a punishment deemed too lenient by one of his victims.

A retired policeman and a chartered accountant are among 55 New Zealanders fleeced for $1.7 million by a Malaysia-based scam.

New powers allowing welfare officials to secretly approach beneficiaries' banks or workplaces if they suspected them of committing fraud are being questioned.

Business owners are being warned to watch out for overseas money laundering scams, which are targeting New Zealand's small businesses.