Former banker and foreign exchange broker Kelvin Wood released from prison after Ponzi scheme

An Auckland foreign exchange broker who rose through the ranks of the banking and financial world, dealing with sums of up to $200m for his clients, before orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme has been released
from prison.

For his fraud and deception over several years, Kelvin Clive Wood was sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment in July 2019 before having his time behind bars cut on appeal to five years and six months.

Now the 72-year-old, who once handled millions of dollars but today dabbles as an amateur artist, has been released on parole.

At his hearing, Wood explained his offending when he operated his foreign exchange brokerage, which traded under Forex NZ Ltd and Forex NZ 2000 Ltd.

“He described being very successful at each stage of his life and rose quickly through the ranks at the bank and in the financial world. He believes he had a fear of not achieving and not being successful when he could not meet his clients’ expectations. He also believed that he could make the money back,” the Parole Board’s decision, released to the Herald, reads.

“Each year he was required to make increasing profits and it all blew out. He tried to keep things together. It was a gross error of judgment, and he could not achieve the success that he was used to.”

Wood operated a…