Fraudulent adviser caught out
A former Victorian financial adviser has pleaded guilty to 19 fraud-related charges following an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation.
Matthew David Leech had worked for an accounting practice in Kyneton, Victoria where from 1998 to 2005 he misappropriated funds, which included superannuation and compensation lump sum payments, from 15 different clients.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and 13 counts of obtaining either a financial advantage or property by deception involving the misappropriation of $1.3 million.
Leech also pleaded guilty to one count of creating false documents and one count of using his position as a director of a company, Nataimosh, to gain a personal financial advantage of $51,450.
Last year, ASIC permanently banned Leech from providing financial services.
Recommended for you
AZ NGA has partnered with an Adelaide-based accounting and financial planning practice as it expands its presence in South Australia.
The central bank has released its decision on the official cash rate following its November monetary policy meeting.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a Melbourne-based managed investment scheme operator over a failure to pay industry levies and meet its statutory audit and financial reporting lodgement obligations.
Melbourne advice firm Hewison Private Wealth has marked four decades of service after making its start in 1985 as a “truly independent advice business” in a largely product-led market.
