from politics at the 1999 election. In the 1999 New Year Honours, Graham was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament. On 24 February 2012 he was convicted, along with fellow former Justice Minister Bill Jeffries and two other men, of breaching the Securities Act by making untrue statements to investors in his capacity as a director of Lombard Finance. Justice Robert Dobson wrote, "I am satisfied that the accused genuinely believed in the accuracy and adequacy of the ... documents", but that the offences were ones of strict liability so there was no need for "any form of mental intent to distribute documents that were false or misleading". Graham was sentenced to 300 hours' community service and ordered to pay $100,000 in reparation. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against conviction and increased his sentence to six months' home detention and 200 hours' community work, but the Supreme Court restored the original sentence. Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Edmund Thomas described the convictions as a "grievous miscarriage of justice", saying of the crucial piece of evidence that "you would never ever convict a dog on the basis of the schedule". There have been calls for his knighthood to be revoked, but Prime Minister John Key announced on 1 November 2013 that Graham would keep his knighthood. Notes References |- |- |- |- 1942 births Attorneys-General of New Zealand Living people Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand National Party MPs University of Auckland alumni University of Auckland faculty People educated at Auckland Grammar School New Zealand list MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom New Zealand politicians convicted of crimes New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods Justice ministers of New Zealand