Investigation by ITS leads to tough sentence for bankrupt

A long-time bankrupt has been handed down one of the strongest sentences in recent years following an investigation by the Insolvency & Trustee Service and MBIE’s Integrity & Enforcement Team.

Raymond Anthony Andrews was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment for fraud and breaches of Insolvency Act 2006, Companies Act 1993 and Crimes Act 1961, following a two week trial in March 2019.

Mr Andrews faced charges of forgery, obtaining by deception, using forged documents, managing a company whilst prohibited, managing a business without the consent of the Official Assignee (OA), concealing property, and wilfully misleading the OA. These resulted from a joint prosecution by the Integrity and Enforcement Team and the New Zealand Police.

This is one of the toughest sentences handed down to a bankrupt and it goes to show the severity of the offending and the harm it has caused to the victims.

At sentencing, Judge D Sharp noted the seriousness of the offending to be one of the worst bankruptcy cases to come before the Courts.