Fong Financial Planners, which pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2023, was sentenced to a fine of $100,000.
Between 24 September 2014 and 18 December 2014, Fong Financial Planners, an authorised representative of AMP, acted dishonestly by recording information it knew to be false on forms submitted to AMP as part of client insurance applications.
It intentionally failed to disclose all relevant information relating to the personal circumstances of the clients, including details of their health and medical history, meaning they risked not being covered by AMP policies.
If AMP had received this information from the firm, it could have requested further medical assessments and questionnaires, meaning exclusions could have applied to some of the insurance policies.
Judge Felicity Zempilas noted that there was a degree of persistence in the conduct, which had occurred over a three-month period, and that the offending involved repeated breaches of trust in relation to separate clients who had relied on Fong Financial Planners.
She also considered the significant and unjustifiable risks to the clients had they been required to make a claim under their insurance policies, and the particular relevance of general deterrence for offences of this nature.
Mitigating factors, including Fong Financial Planners’ early guilty pleas, other financial consequences to the company as a result of the conduct, and the low risk of reoffending given ASIC banning orders in place against its sole director, were taken into account.
Fong Financial Planners director and former financial adviser, David Fong, had each initially been charged with 11 offences contrary to s1041G of the Corporations Act but these and eight of the charges against Fong Financial Planners were discontinued following the guilty pleas to three charges.
Fong was permanently banned from providing financial services or engaging in credit activities in 2017. He appealed but this was withdrawn on 4 September 2023.
The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions after a referral from ASIC.
