The Wellington District Court sentenced a 62-year-old Waikanae man to an additional prison term of six months for failing to pay reparation of $110,000 to the victims of his fraud.
The Court had ordered Ian Victor Petersen in March 2001 to pay the amount when he had pleaded guilty to 13 counts of theft by a person required to account, 19 counts of theft by a person in a special relationship, one count of using a document with intent to defraud and one count of dishonestly using a document.
Several victims had complained to the Kapiti Police, who did the initial investigations before referring the case to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the charges relating to the misuse of about $ 2 million of client funds over a 13-year period at the Wellington Court.
SFO Chief Executive Adam Feeley said that the additional sentence would deter people from failing to pay their dues and provide some alternative redress to the victims of Mr Petersen.
”It is imperative that the plight of victims is at the heart of everything the SFO does and reparations can be a very effective form of redress to victims of serious financial crime,” he said.
