20 Feb 2012

Bridgecorp boss denies knowing of computer glitch excuse

6:54 pm on 20 February 2012

The former managing director of failed finance company Bridgecorp has denied helping to devise excuses to give to investors not paid on time.

Rod Petricevic and two other former directors are facing criminal charges in the High Court at Auckland over the company's collapse in 2007 owing more than $450 million.

Mr Petricevic began giving evidence in his defence on Monday morning.

He started by apologising to investors for their losses and the associated grief and said he and the company did everything possible to repay them and run the company properly.

The former managing director told the court he was not responsible for cashflow or day-to-day management.

Mr Petricevic denied he was at a meeting where managers decided to tell investors an interest payment was late because of a computer glitch.

He said the notion that he attended the meeting was complete fiction and he was unaware payments had been missed until he read about it in a newspaper.

Mr Petricevic said if staff had told him that had happened, he would have told the company's board.

Following the missed payments, Mr Petricevic signed a document saying all payments were on time.

He told the court he only did so after seeking advice from a staff member.

Mr Petricevic said he had neither a legal nor accounting background and left those areas of expertise to other Bridgecorp staff.

He said his job was to identify opportunities and grow the company.