Unlicensed Qld trader loses appeal for fraud sentence
An appeal by convicted fraudster Dr Roger Munro has been dismissed by the Queensland Court of Appeal which found no substantial miscarriage of justice occurred.
Munro was sentenced to 4.5 years in jail in May 2022 with a non-parole period of 15 months after pleading guilty to fraud charges. He pled guilty to three charges of fraud for pretending to invest client funds in July 2021 while two other charges did not proceed.
Between March 2013 and April 2014, he received $299,600 from three investors after he had invited them to invest in his trading scheme, TradeStation Futures Trading Fund.
Rather than investing those funds in TradeStation, as he had represented to the investors, Dr Munro dishonestly applied the funds to pay for personal expenses, make cash withdrawals, make payments to other investors and transferred funds into a trading account held in the name of his wife.
He was released in August 2023 after serving his non-parole period.
An appeal was lodged by him in May 2022 and this was heard in October 2023. The Court of Appeal has since stated today (30 July) that no substantial miscarriage of justice occurred when the primary judge refused to allow Munro to withdraw his guilty pleas in April 2022. This was the sole basis advanced by him on appeal.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted this matter after a referral of a prosecution brief by ASIC.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of an advice firm associated with Shield and First Guardian collapses, and permanently banned its responsible manager.
In the run-up to heavy losses expected at the end of the financial year, June has already reported consecutive weeks of adviser losses.
ASIC has banned a former NSW adviser from providing advice for 10 years for investing at least $14.8 million into a cryptocurrency-based scam.
ASIC has sent warning notices to social media finfluencers who it suspects are providing unlicensed financial advice to Australians as part of a global crackdown by international regulators.
