Ray Toler was found guilty of obtaining by deception $22,000 from a 95-year-old war veteran.

A Havelock North man has been found guilty of deceiving a 95-year-old war veteran by taking his war pension funds and investing them in Bitcoins.

Ray Toler, also known as 'Mack' Toler, was found guilty by Judge Bridget Mackintosh in Hastings District Court on Thursday.

The 48-year-old American migrant befriended Geoff Bibby in late 2015. Bibby, a navigator in Lancaster bombers in World War II, wanted to transfer £10,000 (NZ$22,000) from his RAF pension fund to New Zealand, but was frustrated at the fees he would be charged.

JOHN COWPLAND/STUFF The Kumars were sentenced at Hastings District Court on Wednesday .

In a trial in February Bibby told the court that Toler said he could transfer the funds with no fees paid and they would be in Bibby's account within eight working days.

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But Toler denied that and said he had told Bibby about Bitcoins, a digital, web-based currency with no central authority, and that Bibby agreed to invest the funds in these.

SUPPLIED Geoff Bibby was a navigator on Lancaster bombers in WW2

Bibby said he had never agreed to invest the money and only wanted it transferred. He said he had trusted Toler and there was no written agreement about the transfer of funds.

"I had absolutely no intention of investing the money. He mentioned something about Bitcoin, but I wasn't interested. I thought it was a load of codswallop and I couldn't understand it," he said.

The funds were transferred into an account account held by UACNA Ltd, of which Toler was sole director, in October 2015. Two months later they were all spent.

Toler told the court he had held US$45,000 in Bitcoins and he had put some of this in Bibby's name in exchange for the cash.

He said he had every intention of making a big profit for Bibby, whom he considered a friend.

But he said not long after Bibby's cash landed, Toler's Bitcoin account was hacked and he and his associates haven't been able to access their Bitcoin funds ever since.

When the money did not appear in Bibby's account within the eight working days he began asking questions.

"I kept on asking him for it. He came across with some weird and wonderful reasons why it was not there, but I never did get it back until a year later," Bibby said.

Late last year Bibby and his family had had enough and they went to police. A short time later Toler gave Bibby a bank cheque for NZ$22,500.

Toler said he wished Bibby had come to him to sort the matter out instead of going to police, but police prosecutor Tanya Ashfield said that was exactly what Bibby had done, without any luck, for nearly a year.

Toler was charged with obtaining by deception and was in court for a judge alone trial.

Judge Mackintosh said the Bitcoin scheme seemed very complex and there was a lot of well publicised scepticism about its integrity.

She asked Toler if he thought his actions were appropriate given Bibby's age.

Toler was adamant it was what Bibby had wanted and he felt he could earn some money for him.

"I was trying to do something really great for him. If it hadn't been for the hack then this would have all been beautiful," he said.

Judge Mackintosh found Toler guilty and ordered him to come up for sentence if called upon on within a year.