Pending SFO Court Cases

 

NOTE:  All SFO prosecutions are now presented in court by electronic means, using software called “Sanction”. Instead of a large number of documentary exhibits being produced in paper-copy, the main participants (including the jury) are now able to view all the exhibits electronically on 17” flat screens positioned around the court. 

 

 

November – December 2009 Significant Dates

 

12 August 2009 – 20 November 2009 – Shane Charles Wenzel  – The estimated ten week trial fixture has been extended and the trial is still proceeding in the Manukau District Court – see Prosecutions number 2.

 

27 October 2009 – Selwyn Love – Two week trial scheduled to commence in the Hamilton District Court on 27 October 2009 – see Prosecutions number 9.

 

9 November 2009 – Sharon Maree Ogilvy – One week Depositions Hearing commencing in the Invercargill District Court – see Prosecutions number 18.

 

12 November 2009 – George Socrates Mamfredos – Sentencing Hearing to take place at the Manukau District Court– see Prosecutions number 8.

 

12 November 2009 – Scott Alwyn MacKenzie – Sentencing Hearing to take place at the Auckland District Court – see Prosecutions number 17.

 

19 November 2009 Robin Sew Hoy – Sentencing Hearing to take place in the Dunedin High Court – see Prosecutions number 6.

 

20 November 2009 – X – Name Suppression Hearing to take place at the Auckland District Court – see Prosecutions number 21.

 

23 November 2009 – X and Y – Trial to commence in the Christchurch District Court on the 23rd of November 2009 – see Prosecutions number 1.

 

24 November 2009 – Michael Andrew Swann – Appeal against sentence to take place at the Court of Appeal – see Prosecutions number 5.

 

4 December 2009 - Keith Ross Mackie – Sentencing Hearing to take place in the Wellington District Court – see Prosecutions number 16.

 

8 December 2009 – B, B, M and C (names suppressed) – Pre-trial callover to take place in the Auckland District Court – see Prosecutions number 10.

 

 

Prosecutions

 

1.         X and Y (names suppressed) face charges alleging fraudulent use of a document and money-laundering and against one accused only, attempting to obstruct the course of justice.  A 2-week trial was adjourned to allow pre-trial hearings relating to the admissibility of evidence. An appeal against those pre-trial rulings was heard in the Court of Appeal on 27 July 2009.  The trial is scheduled to commence on 23 November 2009.

 

2.         Shane Charles Wenzel faces charges in relation to alleged mortgage fraud in the Manukau District Court.  A 10-week judge alone trial commenced in August 2009 and is still being heard.

 

3.     Stephen D’Villiers, Boni Roy and Jennifer Lacurtz faced charges alleging property fraud.  Boni Roy was discharged on three counts of property fraud.  Mr D’Villiers pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Manukau District Court on 28 August 2009 to 5 years imprisonment (minimum non-parole period of 2 ½ years).  Ms Lacurtz pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Manukau District Court on 28 August 2009 to 6 months Community Detention and ordered to pay reparation of $8,000.00.

           

4.     Douglas Joseph Whipp and Dorothy Penhalluriack face retrial on charges alleging the dishonest use of a document in the Dunedin District Court.  An application to stay the trial failed, but a trial date has not yet been set.

 

5.      Michael Andrew Swann and Kerry Gray Harford have been found

guilty at the conclusion of a 3 week jury trial at the High Court in Dunedin of defrauding the Otago District Health Board over a period of 6 years. Michael Swann was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months imprisonment and Kerry Harford was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months imprisonment. Michael Swann has appealed his sentence and this will be heard in the Court of Appeal on 24 November 2009.

 

6.      Michael Andrew Swann and Robin Sew Hoy face charges alleging

the taking and giving of secret commissions.  They conceded a prima facie case at a depositions hearing in November 2007 at the Dunedin District Court. Robin Sew Hoy pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in the Dunedin High Court on 19 November 2009. A two week trial fixture is scheduled to begin on the 10 May 2010 with respect to Michael Swann.

 

7.         Peter Justin Hitchinson was found guilty of 6 theft charges, relating to client funds received during his operation of a foreign exchange trading business in Whangarei. He was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on 6 November 2009 to 3 years and 4 months imprisonment.

 

8.         George Socrates Mamfredos was found guilty of six counts of dishonesty and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He will be sentenced on the 12th of November 2009 at the Manukau District Court.

 

9.         Selwyn Love has been charged in the Hamilton District Court on 13 counts of using a document with intent to defraud/dishonestly using a document in relation to allegedly inflated annual salaries and bonuses. He was committed for trial on all counts. A 2-week trial fixture commenced on the 27th of October 2009 at the Hamilton District Court.

 

10.      B, B, M and C (names suppressed) face charges in respect of alleged conspiracies to dishonestly use documents in respect of a gaming machine trust. The defendants were all committed to trial following a 3 day depositions in the Auckland District Court. A Pre-Trial Callover will be held in the Auckland District Court on 8 December 2009.

 

11.      Y (name suppressed) is charged with bribing a Work and Income New Zealand official. A prima facie case was conceded at a depositions hearing in March 2009. A s.347 application was heard in the Auckland High Court on 13 August 2009 (decision reserved). A 2 week trial fixture has been set down to commence on 3 May 2010 at the Auckland High Court.

 

12.      Philip James Whitley has been charged in the Nelson District Court with two charges of allegedly making false statements when promoting the sale of shares in an US based company. A prima facie case was conceded at depositions and a trial is scheduled to commence in February 2010 in the Nelson District Court. 

 

13.      Ross Davidson and Wendy Davidson each face 26 charges of using a document dishonestly and 1 charge of conspiracy with another to use documents dishonestly. The offences relate to the use of false invoices to obtain pecuniary advantages from a factoring agency. A callover has been set down on 20 November 2009 at the Christchurch District Court.

 

14.      Arapeta Hamilton has been charged in the North Shore District Court with six charges of using documents with intent to defraud. A depositions hearing will take place between 20-22 January 2010 in the North Shore District Court.

 

15.      Keith Victor Lapham has been charged in the Auckland District Court with three charges of obtaining by deception. A depositions hearing is scheduled to commence in April 2010.

 

16.      Keith Ross Mackie and Alan Edwards Wycherley appeared in the District Court at Porirua on 7 November 2008 on charges of conspiracy to use documents dishonestly. Following a 1 week depositions hearing, Mackie pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in the Wellington District Court on 4 December 2009. Wycherley will appear at the Wellington District Court on 26 January 2010 for a pre-trial callover.

 

17.      Scott Alwyn MacKenzie pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining by deception.  Mr MacKenzie will be sentenced in the Auckland District Court on the 12th of November 2009.

 

18.      Sharon Maree Ogilvy faces charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and theft by a person required to account.  A one week Depositions Hearing will commence in the Invercargill District Court on 9 November 2009.

 

19.      C (name suppressed) faces charges of false accounting and false accounting by an employee.  A two week depositions hearing is scheduled to commence in the Auckland District Court on 18 January 2010.

 

20.      A, C and R (names suppressed) face four charges on obtaining by deception and two charges of using a forged document.  C pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years and 5 months on 22 October 2009. A and R will appear at pre committal hearing on 24 November 2009.

 

21.      Trevor Allan Ludlow, (known as Allan Ludlow), and X (name suppressed) each face 6 charges of fraud. Ludlow was the sole shareholder and a director of National Finance 2000 Ltd. National Finance went into receivership in May 2006.  Between November 2003 and March 2006 X applied National Finance funds outside restrictions imposed by trust deeds and falsely accounted for monies advanced for the purchase of properties in Fiji by Ludlow. A name suppression hearing is scheduled to take place on 20 November 2009 at the Auckland District Court with respect to X.

 

22.      Trevor Esera, faces 7 charges of fraud. Esera was employed as a systems accountant and IT specialist by Rinnai NZ between 2001 and 2008. He falsified his qualifications in order to secure the position with Rinnai. During the course of his employment he submitted 350 false invoices to Rinnai from fictitious suppliers and fraudulently obtained $1,758,193.  Furthermore, he also created false documents which overstated his income in order to obtain a mortgage for which he would not otherwise have qualified. A pre-depositions callover will be held at the Auckland District Court on 24 November 2009.

 

SFO Act Prosecutions

 

  1. Shane Charles Wenzel also faces one charge under section 45 of the SFO Act for failing to produce documents as required pursuant to section 9 of the SFO Act. The charge will be heard with the others he faces – see Prosecution 2 above.