Guilty verdict for former Nathans directors

After a marathon 12 week trial former Nathans directors Mervyn Doolan, Donald Young and Roger Moses have been found guilty of five charges of breaching the Securities Act.

Friday, July 8th 2011, 11:00AM 2 Comments

They were remanded on bail at the High Court in Auckland today and have been ordered to surrender their passports ahead of sentencing on September 2.

Financial Markets Authority (FMA) chief Sean Hughes welcomed the verdict, saying it sent a clear message of responsibility to issuers of securities and their directors.

"Today's decision has reinforced the responsibility that every director of an issuer has to provide truthful and complete information to investors," he said.

"The verdict will also send a clear signal to investors that it's safer to enter the markets, with greater policing of behaviour, and this will contribute to capital markets growth over time."

Nathans was established as a funding vehicle for VTL, which developed software for vending machines, and the Crown claimed financial statements from the men - including a fourth director John Hotchin - regarding lending to VTL, its loan book, loan management practices and management of liquidity were untrue.

Hotchin was excused from the trial after agreeing to testify against his former colleagues and received a $200,000 fine, 11 month home detention and 200 hours of community service.

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Comments from our readers

On 8 July 2011 at 3:03 pm Gazza said:
About time. No doubt they will get a slap with a wet company disclosure page. Wonder how much is stashed away in foreign accounts and trusts etc Can't see them being out of pocket
On 9 July 2011 at 8:42 am Richard Scott said:
It's to be hoped that this "strong message" talked about in the article by the FMA is further strengthened by a lengthy custodial sentence for these clowns as well. Let's see if the judge has any balls on this.
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