ASIC continues Wattle scheme crusade
TheAustralian Securities and Investments Commission(ASIC) is continuing its campaign against parties linked to the failed multi-level investment scheme, the Wattle Group, after an administrator to the group pleaded guilty to 48 charges contravening the Corporations Act.
Anne Shirley Corbett, a director of Brisbane-based Anscor, pleaded guilty to the charges in the Brisbane District Court following continued investigations by ASIC into the failed Wattle Group, which was shut down by the regulator back in 2000.
The charges relate to Corbett’s part in the promotion of investments that resulted in 12 investors losing just short of $2 million between February 1996 and March 1998.
The matter, which was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, was adjourned for a sentence hearing on September 4.
Earlier this month Robert Edward Corbett, also a director of Anscor, pleaded guilty to similar charges and will be sentenced on 5 September 2003, as will Rodney James Mackay and John Andrew Allen of Mackay & Allen, who pleaded guilty this month to being knowingly concerned in the scheme.
Back in July another Anscor executive, general manager Kenneth Edwin Parker was sentenced to a $1,000 three-year good behaviour bond following a conviction on charges relating to his role in promoting the Wattle scheme, with ASIC alleging his actions lost six investors about $345,000.
Anscor is an investment management and financial consultancy company and was responsible for administering the various investments of the Wattle Group.
In the same month, Bruce Raymond Walden of Australian Secured Mortgages was sentenced to a $2,000 and a three-year good behaviour bond.
Other related convictions include last months sentencing of Australian Secured Mortgages’ Bruce Raymond Walden, who was sentenced to a $2,000 three-year good behaviour bond.
A year earlier Fin Invest’s Howard Jeffrey Owen was also sentenced in relation the Wattle Scheme to 300 hours community service and a 12-month $1,000 good behaviour bond.
Recommended for you
A financial advice firm has been penalised $11 million in the Federal Court for providing ‘cookie cutter advice’ to its clients and breaching conflicted remuneration rules.
Insignia Financial has experienced total quarterly net outflows of $1.8 billion as a result of client rebalancing, while its multi-asset flows halved from the prior quarter.
Prime Financial is looking to shed its “sleeping giant” reputation with larger M&A transactions going forward, having agreed to acquire research firm Lincoln Indicators.
An affiliate of Pinnacle Investment Management has expanded its reach with a London office as the fund manager seeks to grow its overseas distribution into the UK and Europe.
