A Half Moon Bay foreign exchange trader has pleaded not guilty to running a Ponzi scheme to defraud his clients of more than $7 million.
Kelvin Clive Wood (69) pleaded not guilty at the Auckland District Court last Thursday to representative charges of ‘Obtaining by deception’ and ‘Theft by person in a special relationship’ brought by the Serious Fraud Office.
The SFO alleges that Wood created a Ponzi scheme after his foreign exchange brokerage began to suffer net trading losses.
He allegedly used new investors’ funds to pay other investors their reported gains or to refund principal investment without the permission or knowledge of investors.
More than $7m of investment principal belonging to 18 investors is believed to have been lost by the defendant over an eight-year period.
Mr Wood has been remanded on bail for a case review hearing at the Auckland District Court on March 20.
The Financial Markets Authority referred the case to the SFO to investigate in May 2017.
Wood’s address is listed as Takutai Avenue on the NZ Companies Office register.
