The ninth week of the Crown case against three former South Canterbury Finance directors has begun in the High Court at Timaru, with the defence questioning the credibility of one witness.
Lachie McLeod, Edward Sullivan and Robert White are defending 18 charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) following the 2010 collapse of the company, which cost the taxpayer $1.7 billion because it was covered by the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme.
Presiding judge Justice Heath has heard evidence from 35 of the 40 Crown witnesses during the past eight weeks.
Forensic accountant Bradley Porter was seconded to the SFO to investigate the company in 2011.
Under cross examination by defence lawyer Marc Corlett, Mr Porter said this was his first job as a fraud investigator.
He had not been admitted to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants at the time of his secondment, he said.
