Former directors of Fincorp Investments appeared in court yesterday on criminal charges brought about by ASIC.
Fincorp's former chair and chief executive Eric Krecichwost has been charged with three counts of dishonestly using his position as a director of a company with the intention of directly or indirectly gaining an advantage for himself and others.
The company's former finance director, Jacob Lee Quigley, also appeared in Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney facing one charge of the same count.
The charges against Krecichwost relate to three cheques for $900,000, $825,000 and $1,980,000 that ASIC alleges he signed in September and October 2003.
The charge against Quigley involves the $1,980,000 cheque that he is also alleged to have signed in October 2003.
Krecichwost and Quigley pleaded not guilty to all charges and were bailed to appear again on 15 December 2009.
The maximum penalty for each offence is five years imprisonment, a fine of $220,000 or both.
Fincorp Investments was a member of the Fincorp Group of companies. When administrators were appointed on 23 March 2007, Fincorp Investments owed around $200 million to more than 8000 secured and unsecured noteholders.
The corporate regulator has also brought criminal charges against Westpoint Group's former chief financial controller Graeme Rundle.
ASIC charged Rundle with two offences of making a false statement with intent to obtain a financial advantage in contravention of section 178BB of the NSW Crimes Act.
ASIC alleges that in May 2004, Rundle made false statements to a financial institution in support of an application for a $71 million credit facility to fund a Westpoint building project known as the Scots Church Development on York Street in Sydney.
