Planner pleads guilty to fraud charges

A former National Australia Bank (NAB) financial planner has pleaded guilty to charges of deceiving a number of the bank’s clients into investing in a Bahamas-based entity that went on to sustain collective losses of more than $4.7 million.

Paul Drakos, 53, from the Central Coast in New South Wales, pleaded guilty after appearing in the District Court of New South Wales yesterday to 13 criminal charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Drakos pleaded guilty to eight counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, two counts of fraudulent misappropriation and three counts of making and using false documents.

ASIC alleged the crimes were committed while Drakos — who was permanently banned by the regulator in January 2004 from operating as a representative of a dealer or investment adviser — was an authorised representative of NAB from October 1994 until August 2001.

An ASIC investigation revealed that between 1997 and 2001 Drakos made recommendations to a number of his NAB clients to invest in BSI Corp, an entity based in the Bahamas that was not a NAB approved investment product.

Operating out of the Hornsby branch of NAB, Drakos was alleged to have informed his clients that BSI Corp was associated with, or was a subsidiary of, Barclays Bank, which was not true.

An ASIC media statement said NAB has made restitutions to most of the affected NAB clients, who were mainly from the North Shore of Sydney and surrounding suburbs.

Drakos will reappear in the District Court on June 2, 2006 when a date will be set for submissions on sentencing.