SFO finance company investigations – too late?

The Serious Fraud Office says it has set a deadline of March 31 to decide whether to lay charges against those involved in four failed finance companies although it may be too late to prosecute some.

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

The new head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Adam Feeley who was appointed in November told the New Zealand Herald he is taking a different approach to the previous chief executive by making finance companies the "number one priority".

But he says the slow response time taken so far could make it harder for some charges to be laid and it would have to take the passage of time into account.

The SFO has yet to charge any finance company directors despite two and a half years having passed since Bridgecorp's collapse and even longer for others.

He says great difficulty in obtaining evidence from overseas and challenges in getting enough information because of a lack of co-operation were factors in the time taken to investigate.

Feeley says he hopes a decision can be made next week on Bridgecorp which collapsed in July 2007 owing 14,300 investors $459 million.

He expects simpler cases like the ASB fraud investigation to take around three months and more complex cases such as the finance companies to take up to six months.

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