Life ban for adviser’s elderly scam
TheAustralian Securities and Investments Commission(ASIC) has permanently banned former financial adviser David Paul Mudge from acting as a representative of a securities dealer or an investment adviser.
The ban was made following Mudge's conviction for inducing a person to deal in securities by dishonestly concealing material facts.
Mudge, formerly of Windsor Gardens, South Australia, was sentenced to 27 months jail, to be released after a year, upon entering into a good behaviour bond for 15 months.
The Adelaide District Court found that between September 1999 and October 2001, Mudge presented an elderly client with eight documents to sign, and on each occasion, dishonestly concealed that the documents authorised him to withdraw money from her investments for payment to him or his company, Davcal.
Using this method, Mudge dishonestly withdrew a total of $197,375 from the account of his client and used it for his own purposes.
“Due to the serious nature of Mudge's conduct, ASIC has permanently prohibited him from giving investment advice or carrying on a securities business,” ASIC director enforcement Mark Steward says.
“ASIC will not tolerate advisers who use their positions for their own gains, and we will continue to take actions to protect the public from advisers who cannot be trusted in their industry,” he says.
Mudge has a right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.
