Long wait for SCF trial

It could be a year before the South Canterbury Finance (SCF) five, who face charges alleged to amount to New Zealand’s largest fraud, face trial.

The five were due to appear in the Timaru District Court yesterday for the first call of the 21 charges filed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), but were granted a registrar’s adjournment until February 13 to allow for disclosure and for acting counsel to be available.

Judge Joanna Maze granted interim name suppression in ‘‘the interests of preserving rights to a fair trial’’ until their appearance on that date.

Details of the 21 charges filed by the SFO five weeks ago were released yesterday, which show that one defendant faces nine charges, another five and another four. A fourth defendant faces charges and the other one.

The charges include entering the Crown guarantee by deception (at a cost of $1.58 billion), breaching the Crown guarantee, failing to declare related party transactions, charges involving transferring shares, inaccurately reporting impairment levels, and issues relating to accounting and related practices.

The charges each carry maximum sentences of seven to 10 years in prison.

Assuming there are no further applications made, it is likely to be nine to 10 weeks before the first trial callover date. Pre-trial applications are then filed. A basic case could progress to trial in five months, but due to the complexity of this case, that may not be expected for at least 12 months.

The SFO spent 14 months investigating SCF after it collapsed in August, 2010.

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