More jail for Capital + Merchant Finance pair
Douglas and Nicholls are already serving the longest jail terms given to failed finance company bosses.
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Hawke’s Bay
Jailed Capital + Merchant Finance directors Wayne Leslie Douglas and Neal Medhurst Nicholls have had their record-setting prison sentences increased after pleading guilty to misleading investors.
They appeared before Justice Geoff Venning for sentencing in Auckland High Court today having, in February, pleaded guilty to five charges between them of signing prospectuses that contained false statements between 2006 and December 2007.
The misleading statements included information about Capital + Merchant’s liquidity and cashflow, management of loans and related-party lending.
Douglas was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment and Nicholls was sentenced to 12 months on the charges, brought by the Financial Markets Authority.
The jail time is on top of the seven and a half year jail terms they are currently serving for fraud after a prosecution by the Serous Fraud Office last year.
That trial was described as one of the most complicated finance company trials and their jail sentences are the longest given to failed finance company bosses so far.
The convicted fraudsters, alongside Capital + Merchant’s chief executive Owen Tallentire, who is serving a five-year jail term, are now trying to overturn their conviction and prison terms. Their first attempt was thrown out by the Court of Appeal before Christmas.
Capital + Merchant owed $167 million to about 7500 investors when it collapsed into receivership in 2007. Recoveries are not expected.
FMA head of enforcement Belinda Moffatt says she hopes today’s sentencing will act as a deterrent to others.
“Wayne Douglas and Neal Nicholls misled the public to get them to invest in Capital + Merchant Finance.
“If investors had known what was really going on it is unlikely they would have invested at all. Their offending has had a grave impact on investors both financially and emotionally.”
Georgina Bond
Fri, 28 Jun 2013
Fri, 28 Jun 2013
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More jail for Capital + Merchant Finance pair
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