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A former stockbroker whose dealings with an accountant saw his clients exposed to compliance action with the ATO, has been sentenced on dishonesty charges.
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Failures with accountant sees WA man sentenced
06 November 2017
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ASIC announced yesterday that Lewis Anthony Wright Fellowes, a former WA stockbroker, was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court in early November.
Fellowes had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly using his position with the intention of directly gaining an advantage for someone else.
He also pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly using his position with the intention of directly gaining an advantage for himself, totalling $1,595,000.
Fellowes was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, to be released immediately upon entering into a $30,000, five-year good behaviour bond.
The charges on which Fellowes was sentenced covered conduct during his time as a stockbroker for Tolhurst in Queensland, and was later discovered while working for Patersons in Perth, Western Australia.
This includes his behaviour between 31 July 2009 and 1 July 2010, when ASIC said Fellowes failed to provide genuine and accurate financial information to his clients' accountant, exposing his clients to the risks associated with providing incorrect information to the ATO.
ASIC also said, amongst other items, Fellowes transferred $1,000,000 from a joint client account to his personal bank account and later to his personal Leveraged Equities account without the knowledge or authorisation of his clients. In this circumstance, ASIC said he used his position dishonestly with the intention of directly gaining an advantage for himself.
“Stockbrokers and other financial advisers are in positions of trust and are expected to act honestly in their dealings with investors' money. ASIC will ensure those who breach this trust, motivated by their own self-interest, are brought before the courts,” said ASIC commissioner John Price.
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