National Finance 2000 boss Ludlow jailed for six years
Former boss of failed car finance company National Finance 2000 Trevor Allan Ludlow has been jailed for six years for false accounting and theft.
Thursday, October 20th 2011, 2:38PM 
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by Jenny Ruth
Ludlow, who was National Finance's sole shareholder, was found guilty in the Auckland District Court of seven charges under the Crimes Act, including theft as a person in a special relationship, in July following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.
The maximum penalty Ludlow faced was 10 years in jail. Ludlow has vowed to appeal six of his convictions - he pleaded guilty to one charge - and has appealed against the denial of his application for legal aid.
The charges included defrauding investors of about $3.5 million including a $2.7 million unauthorised and undisclosed advance made to Ludlow's Payless Car group of companies and undisclosed related party transactions totalling more than $800,000.
"Concluding the investigations and prosecutions of failed finance companies has been our number one priority over the last 18 months and this sentence reflects both the seriousness and importance of this work," SFO chief executive Adam Feeley says.
One of the SFO's primary objectives has been to focus on cases which would make a difference to restoring investor confidence, Feeley says.
"Kiwi investors understand that criminal proceedings cannot restore the losses they have suffered but equally we believe that they will take some confidence in knowing that those who have so fundamentally breached investor trust can and will be held to account."
National Finance went into receivership on May 9, 2006 owing secured debenture holders $21.8 million and subordinated investors a further $3 million.
The secured investors were paid a total of 49.1 cents in the dollar of their original investment in three tranches to October 2009. The subordinated investors aren't expected to receive any return.
In November 2010, former National Finance accountant John Gray pleaded guilty to theft by a person in a special relationship and to false accounting. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail but that was reduced on appeal to nine months home detention.
Ludlow and two other National Finance directors, Carol Braithwaite and Anthony Banbrook, also face other charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority. Their High Court trial was delayed in August pending Ludlow's legal aid appeal.
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