Directors plead guilty

Robert Gordon Sutherland and Colin Gregory Ryan, who reside in Australia, pleaded guilty to two charges of making an untrue statement in a registered prospectus and one charge of distributing advertisements which included an untrue statement. They will be sentenced on March 15 at the High Court in Auckland.

Under the New Zealand Securities Act and the Australian Commonwealth Corporations Act, their convictions mean they are automatically banned from managing companies in New Zealand and Australia for five years. 

Last week another Capital + Merchant director, Owen Tallentire, pleaded guilty to the same charges.

The prosecution against Capital + Merchant directors Neal Nicholls and Wayne Douglas is scheduled to begin on February 11.