Security 'paranoia' described

Philip Whitley was "an astounding" software programmer, an industry colleague he had worked with told Nelson District Court yesterday.

Simon Taylor, an electronic design technician, who worked with Whitley developing software for the State Cinema in Nelson around 1999, gave evidence yesterday as the defence began presenting its case in the trial, now in its fourth week.

Whitley, 48, has denied two charges of making false statements as a promoter in order to get people to invest in his United States-based company NearZero.

The Serious Fraud Office, which has laid the charges, says that between August 2006 and May 2007, 490 investors ploughed $5.3 million into NearZero on the basis that Whitley had invented a revolutionary way of compressing data and had patent protection for his software.

If the technology existed it would have been worth billions.

Defence lawyer Tony Bamford said he would call three lay witnesses.

The details of Mr Bamford's opening was suppressed by Judge David McKegg due to legal arguments around the admissibility of evidence. Mr Taylor, the first defence witness, said Whitley often came up with lots of "ingenious" bits of software he developed in his own time.

Whitley was an "absolutely fantastic" programmer.

"I've worked with a lot of software people ... I would rate him in terms of his capability as five times or 10 times better than other programmers I've worked with."

Walter Day, a self-employed electrician, who was employed as the business manager of Whitley's company Syntiro at the Wakatu Estate in Stoke, said he first met Whitley in 2004.

They struck up a friendship as they both had "a technology" they were looking to develop and market.

He said at its height Syntiro employed 22 people.

Mr Day said that in 2004 Whitley showed him a document Whitley had in his safe.

Whitley told him it was a document showing a US patent pending application on his technology.

However, under cross examination by prosecutor John Upton, QC, he admitted he did not get a good look at the document and could not describe it.

He told Mr Bamford that he was extremely concerned about Whitley's health at the time the Securities Commission started investigating NearZero.

Whitley was under a lot of pressure from his US business partner Sherif Safwat to increase his security and was also under pressure from his head of security Os Van Leeuwen.

He said Mr Safwat was very controlling and manipulating and told Whitley he needed to drive around in much safer cars and live in a new, secure house due to the value of his technology.

He said he heard a screaming match one day between Mr Safwat and Whitley about the cars.

Whitley eventually agreed to get the cars and "the first stage of the craziness began".

He said the security presence became insane, with fingerpad security to get into the Syntiro offices, while Whitley's office could only be accessed with the fingerprints of Whitley or Mr Van Leeuwen.

He said when the Securities Commission started investigating NearZero, Mr Van Leeuwen told Whitley it was really the FBI after him and they were trying to steal his technology.

"It was the constant badgering and the constant way in which Os and Sherif hounded him.

"They were a team, Sherif by night and Os by night.

"Phil got to the point where he was paranoid."

In answer to questions by Mr Upton, Mr Day admitted that if Mr Safwat and Mr Van Leeuwen believed the technology to be real they were acting on the grounds the technology needed to be protected.

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