By IRENE CHAPPLE
Wellington-based tax lawyer Dr Donald Simcock was yesterday sentenced to 400 hours community service for three counts of fraud after the judge said perhaps his greatest punishment was a "fall from grace".
Judge Nicola Mathers said at the outset of her sentencing at the Auckland District Court that
Simcock, who has had a distinguished legal career and holds a doctorate from Harvard in law, would not be jailed.
The trial revolved around Simcock's setting up financial structures through which he would benefit during his time as manager of the Flat Rock Forests Trust.
The trust collapsed in 1998 after it hit the Asian economic crisis and investors lost between $10 million and $14 million.
Judge Mathers found Simcock's offending did not contribute to the collapse of the trust and that he had financially supported the trust as it struggled.
She considered aggravating factors in the sentencing included the abuse of trust and a degree of sophistication in his offending.
Mitigating factors included the 60-year-old's age, his remorse and the offer of amends, and that the offending happened 10 years ago.
Simcock has paid $150,000, which is being held by the Public Trust, as a way of making amends.
The Crown and Simcock's lawyer agreed there was no need for reparation, although the Crown had called for a jail term.
Judge Mathers considered that publicity over Simcock's trial had acted as a deterrent for unit trust managers because they had been made aware of the serious consequences of abusing such a position.
But the judge noted references that had been supplied in Simcock's defence, saying: "You have a previous unblemished career and you have contributed to society."
The judge said Simcock was better off using his talents to help the community than sitting in jail.
The conviction of Simcock as a unit trust manager who abused his position was the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Judge Mathers warned that future cases of this nature would almost certainly get a jail term.
