New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office says a leave to appeal application has been filed after the High Court last month found former CBL Insurance CEO Peter Harris and CFO Carden Mulholland not guilty on criminal charges.  

The notice filed by the Deputy Solicitor-General with the Court of Appeal relates to two of the eight charges on which the High Court acquitted the defendants. 

“No further comment will be made while the matter is before the court,” the Serious Fraud Office said. 

Mr Harris was cleared of eight charges for theft, false accounting and obtaining benefit by deception, while Mr Mulholland was acquitted on three charges.  

CBL had a market valuation of just under $NZ750 million ($692 million) when it collapsed in 2018 in one of New Zealand’s largest corporate failures.