Bridgecorp trial: Directors helped with cash

(L- R) Former Bridgecorp directors Rod Petricevic and Robert Roest. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Accused Bridgecorp directors Rod Petricevic and Rob Roest personally injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into the failed finance firm during a period when the company was missing payments, says a Crown witness.

Petricevic and Roest - with fellow director Peter Steigrad - are facing Securities Act charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority for allegedly making untrue statements in the registered prospectuses and extension certificates of Bridgecorp and Bridgecorp Investments.

Bridgecorp was a finance company offering property loans which folded in 2007, owing 14,500 investors $459 million. The three directors deny the charges and the High Court trial is expected to take until March next year.

As well as the Securities Act allegations, Petricevic and Roest face eight charges under the Crimes Act and Companies Act of knowingly making false statements that Bridgecorp had never missed interest payments to investors, or repayments of principal, in offer documents.

Investors were misled because they were not told of defaults that began on February 7, 2007, the FMA argues.

Yesterday, the company's former internal audit and risk manager, Indra Kumar, was questioned over bank statements allegedly showing Petricevic and Roest putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into the company between April 10 and May 31, 2007.

After putting the money into Bridgecorp's accounts the directors would remove it again after a matter of days, Mr Kumar said. Bridgecorp was not charged interest on the funds.

The trial continues in the High Court at Auckland today.