“There are professional consequences to follow,” Judge Murray said.
Sam Lowery, acting for Peters, said his client had abandoned name suppression efforts as he realised they had little prospect of success. He also said his client had lost his job as a result of the prosecution.
Francis Peters’ online curriculum vitae notes that until late 2023 - when he was charged - he had worked as an in-house employment lawyer for Fonterra.
“He accepts what he has done. He’s here to take responsibility for it. It’s a humbling day for him,” Lowery said.
Lowery said his client’s involvement in the scheme only came after he tried recovering $100,000 loaned to his brother Gerard, who in turn proposed the property deal in lieu of repayment.
Lowery alleged in court that Gerard Peters was “on everyone’s account, the real villain in these proceedings”.
Judge Murray, in sentencing, said he did not accept this explanation and said Peters’ role as a practising lawyer when committing the offences was an aggravating factor.
“You were someone who should have known better,” the judge said.
“I do not accept you were blindly following your brother. Rather you were blinded by greed.”
Prosecutor Honor Lanham told the court she supported a small discount on sentencing due to the assistance Francis was providing assistance to the SFO investigation.
She said it was unlikely Francis would be called to testify at trial, but he had submitted to a voluntary interview after his charging and had agreed to waive privilege on a number of legal documents relating to the property deal.
Francis is one of five members of the Peters family charged by the SFO late last year over what it alleges were a series of complex mortgage and investment fraud schemes that netted $8.6m.
Broadly the prosecution alleges six residential properties were used in the schemes, with sham buyers, quick resales and false information used to elevate prices and raise large mortgages. An additional $1.8m was allegedly raised from an investor, partly off the back of a forged insurance policy, to be purportedly invested in offshore private banks.
Francis was charged over his involvement in only one of the property deals, and faced four charges out of a total of 37 laid across the broader case.
Francis’ lawyer Lowery said surplus mortgage finance of $370,000 from the deal had been “siphoned off” to an account in Singapore.
Lowery suggested that this sum had been lost: “Yes, Westpac was defrauded but my client was also scammed.”
Francis’ mother, Serene, and brothers Gerard, Christopher and Robert - as well as one other individual with name suppression - are also facing charges over the alleged schemes and have pleaded not guilty.
Serene and Gerard left New Zealand prior to charges being laid and now reside overseas. The court said warrants have been issued for their arrest. A tentative trial date for the remaining trio is set down for February 2026.
The North Shore Court heard the family had arrived from Singapore around 20 years ago when Francis was still in secondary school. Francis had gone on to earn a law degree from the University of Auckland.
Outside court, Francis expressed anger at his “disowned” brother Gerard.
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism - including twice being named Reporter of the Year - and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.
