Third guilty plea made in MTF fraud
Another guilty plea has been made by a defendant charged with deceptively obtaining funds in an attempt to defraud Motor Trade Finances - SFO.
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Hawke’s Bay
Yesterday saw another guilty plea made in the Auckland District Court by one of the defendants charged for his role in a scheme to defraud Dunedin-based vehicle finance company Motor Trade Finances Ltd (‘MTF’), after an investigation led by the Serious Fraud Office.
40-year-old Karl Sean Toussaint pleaded guilty to five charges of deceptively obtaining funds under the Crimes Act, which carry a maximum penalty of seven years.
In late 2011, fellow accused Clark Anthony Lewis and Stewart Travis Saunders pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining funds by deception for their roles in the scheme.
Another four defendants also appeared in the Auckland District Court in relation to similar charges, and have been remanded for trial beginning on March 4, 2013.
A combined total of 110 charges were laid by the SFO against seven individuals in August as a result of allegations made against Mark James Whelan, who was formerly an Auckland-based retail dealer for MTF and later a franchise of the company.
It is alleged that while in those positions and between July 2005 and February 2009, Mr Whelan wrote a number of loans in the names of family, friends and associates using various non-existent assets as security.
Whelan is currently accused of obtaining loans totalling $4.9 million and using those funds for personal gain, including the purchase of land, servicing of personal debts, and investing in a futures trading scheme.
The other individuals facing joint charges for their roles in the scheme are Richard Michael Barnett on 16 charges, Jonathan Earle Chiswell on 3 charges, and Brett Royce Donaldson on 7 charges.
NBR staff
Wed, 29 Feb 2012
Wed, 29 Feb 2012
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Third guilty plea made in MTF fraud
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