CBL Corp case: SFO planning to appeal

The Serious Fraud Office says it has sought leave to appeal two of the eight not-guilty findings against two CBL Corporation executives.

Last month, a High Court judge said the company’s managing director, Peter Harris, and chief financial officer, Carden Mulholland, were not guilty of Crimes Act charges. Many of the eight charges against the pair fell over at early hurdles, with findings that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) had not issued directions properly.

The groups of charges were broadly split into two: first, charges relating to a transaction with the National Bank of Samoa, which included “obtaining by deception” charges under the act's sections 240 and 242, and “false accounting” under section 260.

The second group of charges related to the RBNZ's directions. The crown alleged the pair breached these and that doing so was “theft by a person in a special relationship”. Yesterday, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said the deputy solicitor-general had filed a notice of application for leave to appeal with the Court of Appeal. “No further comment will be made while the matter is before the court.”

Harris said in a statement that the appeal was disappointing but not entirely surprising. “This entire CBL saga has been a case of dealing with parties like RBNZ and SFO, who simply have never accepted that they could ever be wrong,” he said. “I am really sorry that my family and other supporters have to suffer through this process yet again, but I have full confidence in my legal team and the court, and we will fight it just as hard.”