KEY POINTS:
The Court of Appeal has upheld long jail sentences against two Aucklanders involved in financial deals labelled "old-fashioned con jobs".
In December, Justice Patricia Courtney in the High Court sentenced Roderick Bernard Harrison and Alan Victor Jones to 6 1/2 years in prison.
The two were convicted after
a series of charges were laid by the Serious Fraud Office.
Justice Courtney said their offending was very serious, sustained, premeditated but not especially sophisticated.
She likened their crimes to "old-fashioned con jobs", saying the men made themselves out to be important and made victims feel small.
The men appealed their sentences but on Wednesday the Court of Appeal rejected their plea for a shorter jail term and upheld the existing terms.
Three judges heard the matter in the Court of Appeal last month: Justice Grant Hammond, Justice Hugh Williams and Justice John Wild.
Justice Hammond said that in 1999 the two men began to solicit money from friends and acquaintances with the promise of investing it into high-yield overseas investments.
"The appellants would introduce themselves as partners, presenting themselves as experienced in the finance sector.
"As [Justice Courtney] put it, the impression was put across that they were managing investments that were so large as to make your victims look and feel like very small players.
"The investment was to occur through an association called the Harvest Investment Club.
"In reality, the club was not an organisation at all.
"Rather, the appellants used it as a front to give the impression that they were dealing with an elite group of wealthy investors who invested together in order to achieve returns not available to ordinary people.
"A general message of security was conveyed. Some of the investors were even told that the investment would be insured."
The men raised more than $5.2 million. Some of the victims managed to retrieve their money, but most did not. More than $2 million was lost in New Zealand investments and some $2.2 million went to the men directly.
The total loss to investors over three years was about $4.29 million.
"The men obstructed the Serious Fraud Office investigations into their business, including instructing one of their own investors on the answers she should give to the SFO.
"The appellants further spread rumours amongst investors that the SFO was contributing to their demise, rather than acknowledging their actions," Justice Hammond said.
"No sign of remorse was given by the appellants. Your attitude seems to be one of regret that things have not turned out the way you planned."
The men had argued the sentences imposed on them were "manifestly excessive" and disproportionately severe.
But the Crown rejected the appellants' arguments and said the sentences were fair. It argued that with multiple offences, the sentence must reflect the totality of the offending.
The men could have been sentenced to seven years in prison. But Justice Courtney had shortened this by six months and the Crown argued this was a lenient move.
Justice Courtney had given them less than the seven-year maximum to take account of their previous good records and contributions to their communities.
The men must serve the four years and six months for conspiracy to defraud and one year on each of the charges of using a document with the intention of obtaining a pecuniary benefit.
Harvesting Cash
* Two Auckland con men must remain behind bars.
* Appeals for shorter jail terms were rejected.
* They ran the Harvest Investment Club, a scam which defrauded investors.