Serious fraud charges against Allan Hubbard will be stayed following his death, his lawyer says, but no decision has been made on whether his widow will be released from statutory management.
Mike Heron said the Timaru-based businessman will now be presumed innocent of the 50 fraud and other charges laid against him.
Mr Hubbard, 83, died in Dunedin Hospital after the car he was in crashed north of Oamaru on Friday.
His wife Jean, 82, was driving and remains in hospital.
Mr Hubbard was being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after the collapse of South Canterbury Finance triggered a record government bailout of $1.7 billion to 35,000 investors.
Mr and Mrs Hubbard and their companies Aorangi Securities and Hubbard Management Funds, as well as several charitable trusts were placed in statutory management by the government on June 20 last year owing millions.
The SFO laid charges relating to theft by a person in a special relationship, false statement by a promoter and false accounting.
The charges prompted thousands of his supporters to protest in the streets of Timaru.
He was due to appear in Timaru District Court next month to defend them.
In 2009 Mr Hubbard, then estimated to be worth $550 million, was named as one of the five most powerful people in the primary sector, but it all began to unravel when SCF got into strife over related party loans and exposure to impaired property loans.
Mr Hubbard was revered by many for backing struggling local farmers and businesses who were shunned by the banks.
He cultivated his image as a simple man, who still drove a 30-year-old Volkswagen and lived with his wife in the same house they bought in 1961.
Cabinet may decide on Mrs Hubbard on Monday.
NZN