Braithwaite Found Guilty

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National Finance director Carol Braithwaite has been found guilty on one charge os signing a prospectus containing an untrue statement in a majority verdict delivered at the Auckland High Court this morning.

The NBR reports:

In a verdict just returned this morning, an Auckland High Court jury has found National Finance director Carol Braithwaite guilty, by majority verdict, of one charge of signing a prospectus containing an untrue statement

The ex-wife of jailed fellow National Finance director Allan Ludlow, Braithwaite is the only person in a series of recent finance company director trials to have a jury trial.

She will be sentenced on September 18.

Justice Pamela Andrews decided it was appropriate to grant Braithwaite bail to her Devonport, Auckland home, after listening to arguments from her lawyer Quentin Duff.

Mr Duff said Braithwate was a first-time offender and her offence was not in the same category of seriousness as that of Ludlow.

Her risk of reoffending was low and her personal circumstances supported bail: Braithwate is a single mother and sole caregiver for children aged 13 and 11.

Justice Andrews said her decision to grant bail was not indication of the sentence to come.

Mr Duff said while imprisonment could not completely be excluded, a sentence of home detention was more appropriate.

The Crown argued imprisonment was at least possible for Braithwate.

Although it was accepted Ludlow's offending was in a different category to Braithwaite, Crown lawyer John Dixon noted the starting point for Ludlow's sentencing was four-years imprisonment.

Source: National Business Review