Wife of MRP fraudster appeals convictions

Jane Rose appears for sentencing at the Auckland High Court in May. Photo / Michael Craig.

The estranged wife of a former Mighty River Power (MRP) engineer is appealing her convictions for helping him defraud the energy company.

Paul Rose, 44, was jailed for three years and two months in May for obtaining $2.2 million from MRP by deception.

His estranged wife, Jane Rose, was sentenced to nine months' home detention for assisting with some of the offending.

Paul Rose's job as an electrical engineer with MRP made him responsible for buying parts and organising services.

During his tenure, he set up companies that acted as a vendor to his employer. Although his employee agreement required him to disclose his conflict of interest, he did not.

Rose, described by colleagues as highly knowledgeable and the "go-to guy" at the Southdown power station, would buy goods from a real company, add a mark-up and sell them to MRP.

Paul Rose is not challenging his convictions but Jane Rose is now appealing hers

The appeal concerns her convictions only and not the sentence Jane Rose received, which was more lenient than the SFO had pushed for.

When sentencing Jane Rose in May, Justice Rebecca Edwards said she played a secondary role in the offending and, unlike her former husband, owed no legal duty to MRP.

"You were not in a position of trust and confidence," the judge told her.

However, Justice Edwards said the offending gave Jane Rose a lifestyle she could not have enjoyed if she had not assisted her then-husband with his deception of MRP.