Former National Cabinet Minister Sir Douglas Graham believed it would have best if he had dropped dead at the start of his trial for misleading investors in the collapsed Lombard Finance, the National Business Review reports.
Last month Sir Douglas along with Bill Jeffries, Lawrence Bryant and Michael Reeves was found guilty of making untrue statements about Lombard's position in its offer documents in December 2007.
Lombard Finance was put into receivership in April 2008, owing $125 million to 4400 investors.
Graham and the other defendants are due to be sentenced tomorrow in the High Court at Wellington.
In his first interview since the guilty verdict, Sir Douglas told the NBR of the despair he felt when the trial began.