Ex-Wickham CEO jailed for five years
Collapsed debenture issuer, Wickham Securities' former chief executive, Garth Peter Robertson, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to various charges brought by the corporate regulator.
At the Brisbane District Court on Thursday, Robertson was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in respect of 11 fraud offences, to be suspended after 20 months for a period of five years.
Robertson was also sentenced to a total of 18 months' imprisonment for the offences relating to the false information given to Sandhurst and the falsification of Wickham's books.
The court heard that between 15 December 2010 and 27 November 2012, Robertson dishonestly obtained $761,504 from Wickham, which he used for his personal benefit. This included a house deposit, holiday, car, credit card, mortgage repayments, and the payment of taxation debts.
Judge Moynihan said that Robertson took money from Wickham when he knew that the company was in trouble, which ultimately diminished the sum available to creditors of the company.
Moynihan said the victims of Robertson's "fraudulent and deceitful behaviour" had been adversely affected and that there were devastating consequences for those who lost money as a result of his conduct.
On 15 July 2016, Robertson pleaded guilty to:
- Ten counts of dishonestly obtaining property totalling $761,504 from Wickham between December 2010 and November 2012;
- One count of dishonestly obtaining $15,000 from Balmain NB Corporation Ltd in November 2010;
- Nine counts of giving or permitting the giving of false information about Wickham to its trustee, Sandhurst Trustees Ltd in 2012; and
- One count of falsifying books relating to the affairs of Wickham in 2012.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter.
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