A man who walked into court with 119​ convictions, left with two more in a prison van to serve a sentence of seven​ months in jail.

Lawrence Alexander David Branson-Marsters​ was sentenced at the Auckland District Court ​on two charges of giving the Companies Office false details when he set up two companies.

Justice Evangelos​ Thomas said each of the two charges carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Last year, Branson-Marsters, was banned from being a company director or manager for 15​ years by the High Court in Auckland after an investigation by the Registrar of Companies into the two companies, one of which held itself out as a mortgage lender.

Branson-Marsters, of Tauranga, came to the attention of authorities last year after a tip-off that he was behind a company claiming to make loans to people with poor credit histories despite not being registered to deliver financial services.

When he banned Branson-Marsters from being a company director Justice Geoffrey Venning in a judgment in June outlined Branson-Marsters extensive criminal history.

That comprised 119 convictions, including 74 dishonesty convictions for burglary, dishonest use of documents and obtaining by deception, as well as 30 offences related to breaching bankruptcy obligations.

Branson-Marsters asked to be allowed to serve a sentence of home detention with leave to work, but Justice Thomas said the starting point for his offending was nine months in jail.

'There's a high public interest in ensuring that our Companies Office, our companies, our marketplace has integrity,” the judge said.

'If it doesn't have integrity it undermines public confidence in the marketplace. It effects the ability of our economy to function in a credible way.”

Lawrence Alexander David Branson-Marsters came to the attention of authorities last year after a tip-off that he was behind a company claiming to make loans to people despite not being registered to deliver financial services. Photo: Screenshot/Stuff.

He said Branson-Marsters had set up two companies called Qualifund Limited and H&D Property Developments and Investments Limited.

He gave a false address to the Companies Office when registering H&D Property Developments and Investments, and used a false name when setting up Qualifund.

It was a deliberate decision from a man with a long list of dishonesty convictions, including 30 for breaching the obligations of bankruptcy, Justice Thomas said.

He gave Branson-Marsters credit for early guilty pleas.

In June, Justice Venning outlined Branson-Marsters' convictions when he banned him.

He said in 2005 Branson-Marsters pleaded guilty charges relating to filing numerous false GST returns while involved in the management of five companies and a trust.

After serving the prison term for that offending, on August 23, 2011, Branson-Marsters was convicted of further charges.

Branson-Marsters was sentenced to four months' community detention on two charges of dishonesty involving the use of a document, and one of obtaining by deception.

Bryce Rayner, a senior investigator in the Integrity and Enforcement Team from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, estimated the total sum of losses caused through Branson-Marsters' dishonesty offending, personal bankruptcies and mismanagement of companies to be in excess of $2.1 million.

Justice Venning said Branson-Marsters had changed his name on at least three occasions.

-Rob Stock/Stuff.