A former director of an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) holder received a 12-month suspended sentence and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
Andy Kay Hooi Lim, of Rivervale, Western Australia, admitted to one charge of fraudulently inducing an investor to deliver $100,000 to Andean Securities Pty Ltd, a company of which he was the sole director, following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
A statement, released by ASIC, revealed that Lim was appointed as a director of Aperio Resources Limited, a gold exploration company focusing on mineral deposits in Burkina Faso, in January 2011.
Aperio Resources lodged a prospectus with ASIC in October 2011 for an initial public offering, and a 70-year-old former client of Lim's expressed an interest in investing $100,000 in the IPO.
ASIC's investigations indicated that Lim had "induced this investor to make a cheque for $100,000 payable to Andean Securities, contrary to the instructions in the prospectus, with the intention that he would then use the $100,000 at his own will".
He then transferred these funds into his private bank account and used them for a mixture of business and personal purposes that were unrelated to the IPO.
ASIC noted that Andean Securities held an AFSL from May 2010 until the licence was voluntarily cancelled in March 2013 by application from Lim.
Following the commencement of ASIC's investigation, Lim also voluntarily refunded $100,000 to the investor in March 2013. Andean Securities entered into court-appointed liquidation in May 2013.
ASIC Commissioner John Price said Lim's conduct was contrary to the high standards expected from company directors and breached the trust of his former client.
"ASIC will ensure company directors who act fraudulently and seek to benefit personally are brought to account", Price said.
The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
