Stockbroking adviser gets two years
A former adviser in Victoria has been jailed after the Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions successfully brought a case against him for deceiving clients while working for Epic Securities, Peake Lands Kirwin andHartley Poynton(now HP JDV).
Julian Kok Chee Lee received a two-and-a-half year jail sentence with a non-parole period of 12 months after being convicted in the Melbourne County Court for 14 counts of dishonesty. The charges follow an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Lee was employed as an adviser for the three stockbroking firms between September 1997 and June 2000. His role was to buy and sell shares for clients who held share trading accounts with the firms.
Lee was alleged to have operated 14 fictitious accounts at the three firms and used these accounts to buy and sell shares on his own behalf. He used his own and his associates’ residential address on the false accounts in order to set them up.
Lee then incurred substantial trading debts after using the accounts to trade shares on behalf of his clients. The watchdog says he made losses in all but two of the accounts — held with Peak Lands Kirwan — and racked up a combined debt to his employers of $425,000.
Lee pleaded guilty to the criminal charges relating to his actions as a securities adviser.
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