Speaking from Auckland, where he was attending a trade fair in connection with his business, Mr Thomson said had he been in Dunedin he would have attended the sentencing and stared at Swann the whole time.
"Not that it would have made a blind bit of difference, but it would have made me feel better".
Mr Thomson chaired the board from late 2001, almost two years after the offending by former board chief information officer Swann and his friend Harford began, and was removed from the chairman's job by Health Minister Tony Ryall, who said there needed to be accountability over the fraud.
New chairman Errol Millar, at his home near Pateaoroa yesterday, issued a brief statement saying the board was relieved the criminal process had been completed and justice served.
The board's priority was the recovery of taxpayers' funds misappropriated by Swann, and he was pleased that recovery process could now resume.
He did not wish to comment further.
Mr Thomson, who wanted to make clear he was talking from a personal point of view as former board chairman, said he was pleased the judge had sent a strong signal about the significance of the offending with the severity of the sentences, particularly in Swann's case.
Two nurses, who did not wish to be named, were in the public gallery watching the sentencing.
They later said they were incensed at the impact the fraud had and would continue to have on the board's clinical environment.
Staff, who had to daily deal with a lack of resources including short staffing, outdated equipment, and deferred maintenance and capital works, had been demoralised by the fraud.
Suggestions the money came from the administration budget and not the clinical budget did not wash with them, because if money was spent unnecessarily on administration it could not be spent in clinical areas.
One of the nurses was critical of Swann's demeanour in court yesterday, saying he seemed arrogant and had brought a paperback book with him.
She felt that, if he was sorry, he was "only sorry for himself".
Serious Fraud Office chief prosecutor Anita Killeen said the SFO was pleased with the outcome.
