Roest jailed for six and a half years

Former Bridgecorp director Robert Roest has been sentenced to six and a half years in jail, the same term handed down to fellow Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic.

Friday, May 18th 2012, 12:05PM

by Niko Kloeten

The sentence was passed today in the High Court at Auckland by Justice Geoffrey Venning, who had early found both men guilty of all charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority.

The charges, which were laid under the Crimes, Companies and Securities Acts, related to misleading statements made to investors in offer documents and advertising material.

Meanwhile, fellow former director Peter Steigrad, who was found guilty on six of ten Securities Act charges, has avoided a jail term.

Justice Venning instead gave him nine months home detention and ordered him to do 200 hours of community work and pay $350,000 in reparations.

During their recent High Court trial, the lawyer for Petricevic pointed the finger at Roest, who was the company's financial controller, in regard to its failure to disclose late payments to investors starting in February 2007.

Bridgecorp collapsed in July that year owing $459 million to more than 14,000 investors.

In the High Court this morning Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey said Roest, like Petricevic, hadn't shown any genuine remorse for his actions.

Justice Venning agreed with this assessment, saying Roest still maintained his innocence; despite this, he gave Roest a 10% discount from a starting point of seven and a half years.

Petricevic and Roest will face a further trial in September on charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office.

Niko Kloeten can be contacted at niko@goodreturns.co.nz

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