Three jailed directors of failed finance compay Capital +
Merchant have failed in their appeal against their sentences
and convictions.
Wayne Douglas and Neal Nicholls, the founding directors and
beneficial owners of Capital + Merchant, were found guilty of
three charges of theft by a person in a special relationships
in July.
The High Court's Justice Ed Wylie said the pair loaned
investor money for their own benefit in ways that breached
Capital + Merchant's trust deed.
Nicholls and Douglas, both in their 50s, were in August each
jailed for seven and a half years - the longest sentences
given to failed finance companies bosses to date.
Former C+M director and chief executive Owen Tallentire, who
is in his mid-60s, was also found guilty of two charges and
sentenced to five years in jail.
During the trio's trial, counsel for the defendants argued
the proceedings were very different to other cases where such
charges were involved.
Douglas and Nicholls' Queen Counsel Bruce Gray said previous
cases with these charges had involved the concealment of
transactions and that was not a feature of this trial.
Tallentire's lawyer, Nathan Gedye, went as far as to say that
the Crown had "overcharged" by bringing the case in the way
it did.
Justice Wylie rejected this, but did note circumstances of
the trial were "unique" and that it involved "unusual and
untested features".
Following sentencing the defence brought the case to the
Court of Appeal, where it was argued last month before
Justices Terence Arnold, Lynton Stevens and Rhys Harrison.
In a decision just released, the Justices have rejected the
appeal.
- By Hamish Fletcher of the New Zealand Herald
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