Former Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic jailed over misleading investment prospectus
The former property development funding entity Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic has been jailed for six and a half years in New Zealand.
Petricevic was convicted on 18 Crimes, Companies and Securities Act charges of including misleading statements in an investment prospectus, with the former charges carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Justice GeoffreyVenning said Petricevic had known statements that the company had never missed principal or interest payments were wrong. He said more than $NZ91 million ($71 million) of reinvested funds and $NZ28 million of new money was invested after misleading statements were published.
In 2007 it emerged that $18 million was owed by former Test cricketer Craig McDermott to the failed property development funding entity. It was due to be repaid two years earlier, but this deadline was extended.
Venning said he did not believe Petricevic showed true remorse for his actions in the collapse of Bridgecorp.
Some 14,500 investors lost $490 million in 2007.
"You have said you are remorseful but also maintain your innocence,” Venning said.
"You may be sorry investors lost their money but that is not true remorse – you apparently still consider you did nothing wrong.”
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey had previously said Petricevic had not shown the kind of remorse that the court could consider as a mitigating factor.
Venning said Petricevic's feeling was nearer regret for the loss of money than remorse.
Dickey also said testimony towards Petricevic's good character, mainly from family and close friends, was "unremarkable".
Petricevic and fellow former directors, Rob Roest and Peter Steigrad were convicted in the High Court earlier this month on Crimes and Securities Act charges of misleading investors. Roest and Steigrad will be sentenced on May 18.
