KEY POINTS:
How successful, really, has the Serious Fraud Office been in cracking down on what is almost always a white collar crime?
Since its inception it has won around 90 per cent of the cases it has brought - a high level by international standards.
But critics continue to
carp that this is only because it takes on the easy files, and that its record in particularly complex cases has been much lower.
Winston Peters has made no secret of his contempt for the office for deciding not to prosecute in several high-profile investigations, including the Winebox tax fraud claims, allegations of corruption in the fishing industry, and claims of inappropriate use of National Party funds.
Such comments illustrate the conundrum the SFO faces: damned if it does press charges; damned if it doesn't.
There has been much comment about several high-profile failures in recent years, including the Powdergate prosecution, which resulted in only small fines for five defendants and a discharge without conviction for the sixth; the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust case, which resulted in four men being acquitted; and the Digitech prosecution, which saw four businessmen acquitted of charges of fraud and money laundering.
The Digitech case has cost the Crown dearly: it has been ordered to pay the four men $1.1 million in legal costs. And those acquitted in the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust case are also believed to be seeking costs in the order of $2 million.
But as former director David Bradshaw points out, such failures are hardly a reason to get rid of the office altogether. The police have had their fair share of losses over the years too - that's simply the nature of a justice system that relies on human judgment, he says.
In fact, the $1 million payout to Arthur Alan Thomas in 1980 would in today's money probably be worth something like the $5 million the Serious Fraud Office costs to run each year, he notes.
And even its harshest critics would surely not argue that all those acquitted in cases brought by the SFO have been innocent saps - although perhaps that depends on your view of tax avoidance schemes.
Bradshaw says it is sometimes forgotten that SFO cases have to meet the higher standard of proof required for criminal cases. Sometimes staff uncover compelling evidence they are unable to put before the court, for various reasons.
Pursuing potential fraud can indeed be a thankless task. While it is true that many of the SFO's most high-profile cases have not involved particularly large sums of money, the office's bread and butter is the type of scam that has seen many gullible people fleeced of tens or possibly hundreds of millions of dollars over the years by con artists.
While some victims have been embarrassed at their own naivety, others are all too willing to believe they just might have made a fortune if the SFO had simply left the con artists alone.
Even very smart businessmen have occasionally been duped. Two high-profile finance company directors responsible for tens of millions of dollars of investors' money, for example, were among the victims who testified in the trial of Rotorua couple Bill and Lee Papple in 2004.
The Papples persuaded dozens of people in the Bay of Plenty to invest in what are known as high-yield schemes, which offer ridiculous rates of interest for fictitious investments, often called "prime bank instruments".
The businessmen were granted name suppression after they argued their company would collapse if the public found out about their stupidity. The SFO agreed with the suppression orders, for fear public exposure would deter witnesses coming forward in future.
Indeed, the office accepts that the cases it uncovers are probably only the tip of the fraud iceberg.
While it is difficult to prove how effective its very existence is as a deterrent, it is also a moot point, says Bradshaw, whether the new organised crime agency will do any better.
HITS
Among those the SFO has successfully prosecuted over the years are MP Donna Awatere Huata; Equiticorp boss Allan Hawkins; the Sports Foundation's Keith Hancox and Auditor-General Jeff Chapman.
MISSES
The SFO has also had its share of high-profile failures, including its cases against Peter Pharo, Wayne Porter, Malcolm Beattie and Tom Romley, accused of swindling the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust; merchant banker John Reid; former Cabinet Minister John Delamere; and Judge Martin Beattie.
