Former Bridgecorp director Gary Urwin's guilty plea will not alter the prosecution's strategy against three other bosses from the failed finance company, says the Crown's lawyer.
But it is likely to shave a week off their trial, which resumes today.
Rod Petricevic, Rob Roest, Gary Urwin and Peter Steigrad face 10 Securities Act charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) for allegedly making untrue statements in the investment statements, registered prospectuses and extension certificates of Bridgecorp and Bridgecorp Investments.
Bridgecorp was a finance company offering property loans and collapsed in 2007 owing $459 million to 14,500 investors.
The directors' High Court trial was adjourned late last month after the FMA's opening statements.
Crown lawyer Brian Dickey alleged the four were well aware of Bridgecorp's financial woes but continued to take investor funds without informing them of the problems.
The trial opens again for the defence's opening statements.
The adjournment was scheduled to allow Urwin's lawyer, David Reece, to get up to speed with the case after the former director was granted legal aid two weeks before the trial. Although Urwin originally pleaded not guilty, he changed his plea last week and is awaiting sentencing in December.
Reece asked last week for a home detention report to be prepared, but Dickey said the Crown is seeking a term of imprisonment.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in jail or a fine of up to $300,000.
Dickey told the Herald Urwin's guilty plea will not change the FMA's strategy or how he will argue the case. However, he said it could reduce the length of the trial by about a week.
The trial is set to continue until the court closes for the year, resume on January 23 and run until March.
As well as the Securities Act allegations, Petricevic and Roest face eight charges under the Crimes Act and Companies Act of knowingly making false statements that Bridgecorp had never missed interest payments to investors, or repayments of principal in offer documents.
Investors were misled because they were not informed payments were missed from February 7, 2007, the FMA alleges.
"Disclosures of such defaults should have been advised to the investing public. It would have accurately forecast to the public that the companies were facing imminent failure," Dickey said last month.
Former Bridgecorp chairman Bruce Davidson was sentenced to nine months' home detention after he changed his plea to guilty.
He was also ordered to pay reparations of $500,000 and perform 200 hours' community work.