Staff Reporter –
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has brought charges against Mark Lawrence Ivil (58) in the Tauranga District Court.
Mr Ivil faces 21 charges of obtaining by deception, 14 charges of obtaining by false pretense, two charges of using a forged document and two charges of obstructing an investigation.
The SFO investigation looked into Mr Ivil’s activities since the early 1990s and the SFO alleges that he has survived financially by receiving cash and direct credit payments from a number of people.
The SFO alleges that Mr Ivil persuaded these people to provide him with funds with convincing and plausible scenarios about returns on a property development in Australia as well as other schemes.
Millions skimmed
The total quantum the SFO alleges Mr Ivil obtained from the complainants from 1990 to 2014 is approximately $4.28 million.
The SFO also brought charges relating to Mr Ivil’s failure to appear at an interview with SFO investigators and failure to provide documents required during the investigation.
SFO Chief Executive Julie Read said, “Mr Ivil has a reputation for being elusive and using aliases. This could potentially mean there are more victims. We encourage anyone who is concerned about their dealings with Mr Ivil to contact the SFO.”
