The Serious Fraud Office says foreign exchange broker Russell Maher, 52, entered no plea to fraud charges in Auckland District Court on 11 June.

It says Mr Maher, whose company is in liquidation, was charged with 47 counts of ‘Using forged documents’.

The charges relate to Forex Brokers Ltd. The SFO says Mr Maher provided foreign exchange services through the company. The maximum penalty for each charge is 10 years’ imprisonment.

The SFO alleges Mr Maher provided clients with forged documents that deliberately misrepresented the status of the transactions he was meant to carry out. It says he is believed to have used forged documents to disguise that FBL was in financial difficulty.

Mr Maher was remanded on bail to reappear at the Auckland District Court on 23 July.