Astarra investment manager pleads guilty
Astarra Asset Management investment manager Shawn Richard has been banned from financial services for life and may face imprisonment after pleading guilty to dishonest conduct.
Richard pleaded guilty in the New South Wales local court today to two charges of dishonest conduct and one of making false statements in relation to financial products.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had alleged that Richard had dishonestly received undisclosed payments in his role as investment manager of the Astarra Stategic Fund (ASF) and Astarra Superannuation Plan (ASP) and that he knowingly made materially misleading statements about the value of investments made by the ASF.
The regulator said Richard and Astarra had received in excess of $6.4 million in undisclosed payments.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment each, or a $220,000 fine, or both.
Richard was granted bail and will be committed for sentence in February next year.
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