The trial of a man accused of fraudulently claiming he had invented a new data compression method to attract investors began in Nelson District Court today.
Philip James Whitley appeared before a judge alone, facing charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office of making a false statement as a promoter between July 2006 and May 2007.
Whitley's company NearZero attracted $5.3 million from about 490 investors.
During a depositions hearing last year Tim Bell, associate professor of computer science at Canterbury University, said it was not physically possible to achieve the kind of data compression Whitley claimed.
NZPA