Five Star man must wait for decision

Neill Williams. Photo / Steven McNicholl

A man alleged to be a prime mover in the failed Five Star Group will need to wait until later this month to discover if a second bid to reverse his guilty plea has been successful.

Neill Williams, 77, originally pleaded guilty in October 2010 to Securities Act charges for allegedly misleading Five Star investors.

But in the Auckland District Court yesterday Williams' lawyer, Andrew Speed, argued his client only did so because he was too ill to endure a trial and believed a guilty plea could result in home detention instead of prison.

According to defence witness Dr Richard Coleman the accused had a long history of health issues including heart disease, bowel cancer and melanoma.

Coleman, who recommended in 2010 Williams was unfit to go through court proceedings, said yesterday he was concerned at the time a trial could have ended with "a dead Mr Williams".

Speed also argued his client had a strong defence to the Crown charges as he applied to vacate Williams' original guilty plea.

The bid is the second the accused has made - his first application was declined by Judge Roderick Joyce QC in March last year.

Speed argued yesterday there was fresh evidence to support Williams' case since the initial bid.

But Crown lawyer Ian Brookie said there was "nothing truly new about the application" and claimed it relied on the same line of defence Williams had used all along.

The defence's position on Williams' poor health was "overstated" because the accused was working in 2010 and made weekend trips to his holiday home in Russell, Brookie said.

Judge David Harvey reserved his decision on the application until later this month.

Five Star marketed itself as an entity that made small loans to consumers for household purchases such as fridges but instead was allegedly investing large sums in complex commercial and related party lending.

In 2007, Five Star Consumer Finance collapsed with losses of $42 million. Other companies within the group, Five Star Finance and Five Star Debenture Nominee, owe a further $43 million.

Only a tiny fraction of these funds have been recovered.

Williams was not listed as a Five Star director, but was employed by the group. The Financial Markets Authority claims he was a "prime mover" and at times a "controller of events".

Five Star directors Marcus Macdonald, Nicholas Kirk and Anthony Bowden all pleaded guilty to misleading investors in a case brought by the Securities Commission (which became the FMA).

Macdonald and Kirk - who also pleaded guilty to separate criminal charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office - were sentenced to two years in jail in late 2010 but have since been released on parole.

Bowden was sentenced to nine months' home detention but denied the SFO's allegations.

Williams has also pleaded not guilty to these charges and the pair's trial is due to start in the High Court at Auckland this June.

Yesterday, Speed applied to have the details of the hearing suppressed as it could prejudice the jury of the SFO trial. However, Judge Harvey said there was already a good deal of information about Williams' case in the public domain. "Matters of public interest must prevail," the judge said.