Convicted Bridgecorp director Peter Steigrad is holidaying in Europe despite being only part way through a nine-month home detention sentence.
Steigrad filed an appeal against his sentence after serving just seven weeks of home detention and returned to his home in Sydney on bail in early July where his ill wife is based.
He has now taken the opportunity of bail to, with court approval, attend his daughter's two weddings on either side of the English Channel.
Steigrad's ill wife has also travelled to the wedding despite the appeal being based on the humanitarian grounds that he wanted to move closer to her in Sydney because she cannot travel to New Zealand to be with him.
Steigrad was declared the "least culpable" of all of Bridgecorp's directors when he was sentenced by Justice Geoffrey Venning in May this year.
He has also served over 100 hours of his 200 hour community service and had offered to pay reparation of $350,000.
Steigrad's lawyer Brian Keene QC said the sentence should also be reduced because former Bridgecorp chairman Bruce Davidson, who pleaded guilty to all charges, had been more culpable and yet had received a shorter starting point sentence.
Crown lawyer Brian Dickey said Steigrad was effectively asking for a short sentence of community service, which he said would not reconcile with the loss and harm caused to the public by his offending.
Court of Appeal judge Justice Paul Heath said today he took "a pretty dim view" of Steigrad leaving the country while his appeal was being heard.
Another of the judges, Justice John Fogarty, said he also found the situation "very unsatisfactory".
"We try to treat everybody before the courts in the same way," he said.
Justice Fogarty said he had fears about the way the public would view Steigrad's ability to travel abroad when he had been sentenced to home detention.
Keene said Steigrad had left Sydney about a week ago and would fly back in mid September and then immediately return to New Zealand.
The judges have reserved their decision from today's hearing. A confidentiality order regarding Steigrad's wife's medical condition is in place.
Investors, owed $460 million after the collapse of the finance company, will next month get a second payout from the receivers, taking their total recovery to 8c in the dollar.
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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7526693/Home-detention-director-holidays-in-Europe
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