Former high profile motivational speaker Christopher Koch was sentenced to 13 years and two months in jail on several counts of obtaining property and financial advantage by deception.
He was tried and sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Koch received around $1.7 million from 11 victims of his fictitious, international, high-yield investment program in the period of 1996 and 1999. Victims were told they would receive returns of 50-150 per cent in periods as short as 90 days.
Koch was also found guilty of obtaining financial advantage by deception totalling another $1.15 million.
ASIC’s investigation revealed he used most of these funds for his own purposes.
Following the regulator’s execution of a search warrant of Koch’s residence in 2001, he left Australia and travelled through Asia, the United Kingdom, North and South America.
Koch was arrested by New Zealand police and extradited to Australia two years after he finally settled in Auckland.
The accused will have to serve a minimum 10 years before release.
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