Fictitious trade transactions were concocted by Siu Shun Ho and Christopher John Christie in a ‘money-go-round’ defrauding ANZ bank to get eight million dollars working capital for their importing business, International View Ltd. Each was sentenced to two years and ten months imprisonment for fraud.
The High Court was told the two perpetrated their fraud over a twelve month period starting mid-2016. Fake documents were prepared purporting to evidence the importation of computer parts from Asia for sale in New Zealand. ANZ advanced trade finance against the revenue expected from on-selling the supposedly imported computer parts. With multiple false transactions, Ho and Christie extracted eight million dollars from ANZ; much of it used to repay earlier fraudulent loans, some siphoned off into their other business interests. When ANZ asked for detailed financial information as part of a regular customer annual review, the two forged false business records to camouflage their fraud. When the fraud finally fell apart, ANZ was left $2.3 million out of pocket.
Evidence was given that Ho voluntarily filed for bankruptcy prior to arrest. His shareholding in Chinese language World TV was described as being worth over $750,000. Christie’s company Computerware Plus is expected to close following his imprisonment.
R. v. Ho, R. v. Christie – High Court (25.06.19)
19.121