Harts exec pleads guilty to insider trading
Former Harts Australasia executive director Maxwell John Sweetman pleaded guilty yesterday in the Brisbane District Court to insider trading following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Sweetman was charged in May 2003 with two counts of insider trading in the shares of Harts Australasia, after the regulator was alerted by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
According to ASIC, Sweetman was responsible for all finance and administration related activities of the former publicly listed company, which is now in liquidation.
Sweetman was committed to make his latest appearance in Court after he failed to enter a plea on two counts of insider trading back in January this year.
ASIC alleges that Sweetman performed insider trading when he sold 350,000 Harts Australasia shares early in January 2001, only weeks before the company announced to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) an anticipated loss before tax of $9.7 million.
In October 2001, ASIC successfully applied to the Federal Court of Australia to have liquidators appointed to the company, while founder and former executive chairman of Harts, Steve Hart, was arrested and charged with 11 counts of tax-related fraud.
The group’s securities licence was revoked the following month.
With losses of around $93 million in the preceding 12 months, the Harts group was then split up, with its 36 subsidiaries, including First Mortgage Corporation and Harts Securities, wound up or sold-off.
The matter relating to Sweetman has been adjourned for sentencing at a date to be fixed.
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