Cooke Gives Evidence

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31943, 21 March 1969, Page 20

Cooke Gives Evidence

(N.Z. Press Association)

AUCKLAND, March 20. An accountant facing 29 charges of false pretences gave evidence on his own behalf today in his trial in the Supreme Court at Auckland.

Ronald Noel Cooke, aged 42, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which involve a total of $67,705. The charges relate to the period from May 13, 1963, to August 18, 1966, and each case involves the alleged false pretence that the firm Printed Business Forms Ltd, was financially sound. Mr J. S. Alexander appears for Cooke and the Crown is represented by Mr D. S. Morris and Mr W. D. Baragwanath. The trial is before Mr Justice Speight and a jury of eight men and four women. The final Crown witness Laurie Ritchie Willis, a public accountant, said he had been instructed by the police to investigate Cooke’s affairs and companies. Balance Sheets He had prepared balance sheets for Printed Business Forms, Ltd. Cooke had prepared draft figures which showed a gross profit of £3OOB. Mr Willis’s figures

showed a gross profit of £2OOB. But both ended up with almost the same net loss which he put at £5077. The firm began trading in 1961 and by September, 1966, the accumulated loss was £24,699. Mr Willis said the company was in a hopeless position at the end of the 1965 year. Money to keep Printed Business Forms, Ltd, , going came from various loans. Defence Address

Opening for the defence Mr Alexander said that over the last three days the jury had heard of people, mostly in a modest station of life, losing money in Cooke’s enterprises and they might feel sympathy for them. However, it was the

criminal charge which concerned the Court.

To be guilty of false pretences a person had to have made a false representation which he knew was false and there had to be an intention to defraud. It was the state of mind and knowledge of the accused which counted. In evidence, Cooke said he started alone in his own practice in 1948. The business made a profit and he had surplus money which he used to finance clients. He charged 10 per cent. Sole Shareholders In 1955 Cooke said he formed Business Associated, Ltd, with his wife and himself as sole shareholders. From then on the financing activities were done by that company. Business Associated, Ltd, began to borrow immediately to gain money for lending. In 1953 he got the shares in Tourist Publicity, Ltd, which produced a brochure “Welcome To Auckland.” Cooke said that in 1955 he had marriage difficulties and became ill and very nervous and went to a doctor. About a year later, early in 1957, his health deteriorated again and he saw a psychiatrist who gave him medication for some months. In 1961 he acquired Printed Business Forms, Ltd, from a client. It had been a going concern but did not appear to be so at the time and he virtually had to start from scratch. Turnover Rose By the end of the first year the turnover was up to just under £3OOO a year, the second year it rose to £lO,BOO. Cooke said by May, 1965, he had 38 persons working for him in all his enterprises. He bought, in total, about £lO,OOO worth of machinery for Printed Business Forms, Ltd, and a van.