ASIC takes action against serial offender
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has permanently banned a Tasmanian-based man from providing any financial services after it was found he promoted an unregistered management investment scheme by pretending to be a representative of ABN AMRO Morgans.
According to ASIC, Piet Cornelius Walters, of Longford, Tasmania, deceived investors in an unregistered managed investment scheme operated by his company Drury Management.
The scheme collapsed in September 2002 with $8 million invested by 118 investors, many having entered into unsecured loans by way of promissory note and deed.
This is not the first time Walters has felt ASIC’s wrath. In September last year, he appeared in court on 13 criminal charges for engaging in dishonest conduct in relation to the provision of a financial service. This was in addition to earlier civil action taken by ASIC in September 2002, when the regulator appointed an interim receiver to the managed investment scheme operated by Drury Management.
Walters, who is a Dutch citizen and also known as Fred Siebolt Hofman, is also wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant relating to 53 counts of fraud and theft allegedly committed between 1985 and 1991, involving approximately CAD$9.7 million
In this case, ASIC ruled that Walters, formerly of Malanda, Queensland, operated an unregistered managed investment scheme and carried on a securities business without holding a dealer's license.
Walters has the right to lodge an application for a review of ASIC's decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
AUTHOR
Brian Egan
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