Former Financial Wisdom financial adviser Stuart John Forsythe has been gaoled for six years by the Newcastle District Court on 33 Aus-tralian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) charges involving about $1.4 million.

Former Financial Wisdom financial adviser Stuart John Forsythe has been gaoled for six years by the Newcastle District Court on 33 Aus-tralian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) charges involving about $1.4 million.

According to ASIC, Forsythe defrauded eight elderly clients in the Newcastle area over a seven year period by forging client redemption requests for the withdrawal of about $1 million from various finan-cial institutions.

The remaining $420,000 was misappropriated from two other clients, ASIC says.

At the time the offences were committed, Forsythe was an authorised representative of Financial Wisdom, the financial planning arm of Prudential, before it was sold to Colonial last year.

In a separate administrative action, ASIC has imposed a lifetime ban on Forsythe, preventing him from working as a representative of a li-censed securities dealer or financial adviser.

Forsythe will serve a minimum of four years and will be eligible for parole in June, 2003.