Fraudulent former adviser fails in court bid

Former Nelson-based financial adviser, Tony Mount, has has been denied the chance to take his case to the Supreme Court.

Mount stole $500,000 from clients and is serving a six-year jail sentence after being found guilty of 75 fraud-related charges, including theft by a person in a special relationship and obtaining by deception.

Mount failed to overturn his convictions in the Court of Appeal in 2015 but did have his sentence reduced from six years nine months' jail by the appellate judges.

He sought leave to take this case to the Supreme Court but that was denied last week. Mount's proposed appeal focused on his claim that his fair trial rights were breached because he didn't have a lawyer.