HIH CFO Dominic Fodera has been committed in a Sydney court to stand trial on a criminal charge of authorising the issue of a prospectus from which there was a material omission.

He will also appear in the Downing Centre Court next week for another committal hearing in relation to four criminal charges of giving misleading information and a further two charges of failing to act honestly as a director.

The charge for which he has already been committed for trial arises from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission allegations that on or about October 26 1998, Mr Fodera authorised the issue of a prospectus by HIH Holdings (NZ) for converting notes, that contained a material omission.

The alleged omission concerned the effect of a transaction entered into at the same time between HIH and Societe Generale Australia Limited (SGAL) relating to SGAL’s taking up a priority allocation of about $35 million in exchange for HIH depositing approximately $35 million with SGAL.

Mr Fodera had his bail conditions continued and he is to appear in the NSW Supreme Court on September 1.

He will be in familiar surroundings, having spent plenty of time in court since the March 2001 HIH collapse. In March 2002 he was sentenced with former HIH directors Rodney Adler and Ray Williams over a $10 million payment by HIH to Pacific Eagle Equities, in which Mr Adler was a director.

On that occasion Mr Fodera was ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty of $5000. Mr Adler and Mr Williams were ordered to pay penalties of nearly $8 million in compensation and pecuniary penalties of $1.15 million.

In April last year Mr Williams and Mr Adler were jailed for four-and-a-half years each over criminal charges relating to their involvement in several dodgy HIH transactions.