Two year’s jail for dishonest adviser
A former director of Freeman Hall Investment Services has been sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail after being convicted on two charges of failing to act honestly while operating as a licensed securities dealer.
John Charles Freeman, a former investment advisor who pleaded guilty to the charges in August, will serve a minimum of nine months in prison after the decision in the County Court of Victoria last Friday.
TheAustralian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)had alleged that between February and August 1998, Freeman obtained $174,300 of clients’ funds which he used for his own purposes. A portion of the funds were used to pay the debts of Bankswood Developments, a company in which Freeman was a director.
Freeman’s clients were told that the funds were being used to purchase publicly listed securities in their own names.
An investigation into Freeman’s conduct was launched by ASIC in 1998 after complaints were made against him by a member of the public.
The subsequent case was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
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