23 July 2015

SFO charges elusive defendant Mark Ivil

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has laid 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 pretence, 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 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.

The total quantum the SFO alleges Mr Ivil obtained from the complainants from 1990 to 2014 is approximately $4.28 million.

The SFO also laid charges in relation to Mr Ivil’s failure to appear at an interview with SFO investigators and failure to provide documents required by the SFO, during the investigation.

SFO Director, 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.”

Mr Ivil will next appear in the Tauranga District Court on 28 July.

ENDS

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