Bridgecorp trio will learn fate this week

Rod Petricevic. Photo / Greg Bowker

Former Bridgecorp directors Rod Petricevic, Rob Roest and Peter Steigrad are set to discover their fate this week after their four-month-long trial on charges of misleading investors wrapped up last month.

Petricevic, Roest and Steigrad faced 10 Securities Act charges and are accused of making untrue statements in Bridgecorp's offer documents. Petricevic and Roest are also both accused of knowingly making false statements in offer documents that Bridgecorp never missed payments of interest or principal to investors.

The Crown says Bridgecorp began missing payments to investors nearly five months before it collapsed in July 2007, owing 14,500 investors $459 million.

The trio's trial began in October after numerous delays and in its final days, Petricevic and Roest began pointing the finger at each other.

The bone of contention was whether Roest informed Petricevic about problems with payments to investors.

Roest said he told his co-accused about it in morning meetings, while Petricevic denied this ever happened.

Petricevic's lawyer Charles Cato labelled Roest as a central figure at Bridgecorp who had a more "hands-on" position than his client, who was an "entrepreneur" tasked with growing the business. But Roest's counsel Rowan Butler said his client was the "most junior of all the directors" and had been in the role less than a year when payment issues emerged.

Roest had "nothing to gain from silence" and would have informed Petricevic - whose office was right next door - about the payment problems, Butler said.

Steigrad's lawyer Brian Keene, QC, said the non-executive director knew nothing about the missed payments and "faced almost institutional silence about this at board meetings".

The trial finished last month and Justice Geoffrey Venning has indicated he will give his verdict on Thursday.

Former Bridgecorp director Gary Urwin was due to be sentenced this week but this has now been adjourned until later in April.

Urwin originally pleaded not guilty and appeared in court with Petricevic, Roest and Steigrad but changed his plea in November last year.

Urwin's lawyer David Reece asked in November for a home detention report to be prepared, but prosecutor Brian Dickey said the Crown would seek a term of imprisonment.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years' jail or a fine of up to $300,000.

Former Bridgecorp chairman Bruce Davidson was sentenced to nine months' home detention in October after changing his plea to guilty, and was ordered to pay $500,000 reparations and perform 200 hours of community work.