Petricevic fails in new parole bid

Former Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Jailed Bridgecorp boss Rod Petricevic has again been denied parole with the parole board saying he needs help to see his offending in its "proper perspective".

Petricevic was jailed for six years 10 months in 2012 for misleading investors in the failed finance company and for Serious Fraud Office charges.

He had already been denied release last year and when he came before the Parole Board this week the result was the same.

The board's decision quotes "pertinent" passages from a psychologist's assessment of Petricevic.

"Mr Petricevic appeared to accept responsibility for the offences and for the losses suffered by Bridgecorp investors but did not accept that he had acted in a manner that was deliberately dishonest or deceptive," the psychologist said.

"Therefore it is assessed that he displayed partial remorse but nevertheless maintained a degree of entitlement to act in the way that he did given what he said he knew at the time of his offending."

The board, in quizzing the former Bridgecorp director on the psychologist's comments, said there remained cause for concern.

"Primary predictors of risk must be previous conduct and attitudes and present attitudes, to offending conduct. It is in this area that the board continues to have disquiet ... we consider that Mr Petricevic needs to have some assistance to see his offending in its proper perspective," the board said.

"We think that that could best be achieved by a brief programme of one-to-one psychological intervention given that there are no programmes available to him in the prison setting which would be apt to deal with this particular offending."

The former managing director of Bridgecorp, which owed investors $459 million when it collapsed in 2007, will be able to go back before the Parole Board in August.