Court finds agent guilty
FORMER insurance and superannuation agent, Ivan Thomas Merlin of Ballarat, has been sentenced to six months imprisonment, after being charged with larceny and charges relating to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.
The charges were laid after an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Merlin appeared in Melbourne's Magistrate Court last month and pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and two charges relating to the Superannuation Industry Act 1993.
The court heard that between November and December 1999, Merlin advised three of his clients to redeem preserved superannuation money they held with MLC to the value of $62, 217, by dishonestly concealing or withholding material facts.
The court was told that Merlin invested more than $600,000 of his own money into a mining investment in China which had been unsuccessful.
Merlin told the court he intended to use the client's funds in an attempt to recoup the entire investment. However, no money was ever recovered.
As well as his six month prison sentence, Ivan Thomas Merlin also received a three month suspended sentence, was placed on a $10,000 good behaviour bond and was ordered to pay $38,364 in restitution and costs.
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