Justice Wylie of the High Court dismissed Petricevic's appeal against the Legal Aid Review Panel's decision, concluding Petricevic has access to his wife Mary's resources, which include being the beneficiary of the R M Petricevic Family Trust which had $5.2 million of equity in March 2009.

Petricevic is the trust's trustee. Justice Wylie said while the trust's position "has clearly deteriorated ... there is still likely to be not insignificant disposable capital in the trust" and Petricevic has sufficient resources to fund his defence.

The Serious Fraud Office has laid seven charges against Petricevic, each carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, relating to Bridgecorp's collapse in July 2007 when it owed some 14,500 debenture holders about $459 million.

"Clearly, it is necessary to ensure that an applicant's interest in a trust, even as a discretionary beneficiary, be taken into account when assessing an applicant's means," Justice Wylie said.

"Otherwise, the unprincipled and avaricious would seek to fund their legal representation via the public purse. The position is no different if an applicant's spouse or partner is the discretionary beneficiary of the trust," he says.

"Unless a purposive approach to the interpretation of (the relevant

regulation) is taken, the financially unscrupulous will be able to drive a coach and horses through the legislation."