Opes Prime directors plead guilty to ASIC charges
Two former directors of Opes Prime Stockbroking, Lirim ‘Laurie’ Emini and Anthony Blumberg, have pleaded guilty to charges relating to dishonest conduct brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
In the Supreme Court of Victoria, Emini pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly using his position as a director of Leveraged Capital with the intention of gaining an advantage, as well as one charge of recklessly failing to discharge his duties as a director of Opes Prime.
Blumberg pleaded guilty to one charge of using his position dishonestly with the intention of gaining an advantage for himself or someone else.
Emini’s bail has been extended until the date of his sentencing, which is yet to be fixed, while Blumberg did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.
The case against Julian Smith, director and co-founder of Opes, has been adjourned for trial in the Supreme Court on 11 April, 2012.
In March 2008, administrators and liquidators were appointed to Opes Prime. At the time, Opes and Leveraged Capital had more than 650 active client accounts and creditors were owed approximately $630 million.
In March 2009, ASIC announced it would provide the necessary releases to allow a settlement offer to be put to Opes Prime creditors.
This was approved in August 2009, and the schemes are expected to deliver a sum of $253 million to creditors. Dividends exceeding 37 cents have been paid by the scheme administrators.
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