Wattle sourcing agents sentenced
Four men embroiled in the failed Wattle Group investment scheme through their association with sourcing agent Australasian Management Consultants (AMC) were sentenced yesterday in the Brisbane District Court.
AMC directors Robert Murray Cooper and Brian Michael Wood were both sentenced to 18 months imprisonment to be released immediately on a $5000 good behaviour bond for two years, after pleading guilty to 21 counts of being knowingly concerned in the promotion of prescribed interests, in contravention of the Corporations Act, following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The charges against Cooper and Wood relate to 14 investors who lost approximately $692,795 invested in the Wattle scheme.
AMC had agreed to receive commissions from the Wattle Group, through administrator Anscor, of up to 25 per cent per annum on investor funds it sourced.
Lloyd Reginald Ross and Kevin Thomas Browne, both management consultants to AMC, were each sentenced to a two year good behaviour bond at $4000 and $2000 respectively, with no conviction to be recorded, after pleading guilty to three and two counts of the same changes.
Directors of other companies associated with the multi-level unlicensed investment scheme closed down by ASIC in 2000, have also been convicted and sentenced this year, including Anne Shirley Corbett, Robert Edward Corbett, and general manager Kenneth Edwin Parker of Anscor.
Recommended for you
ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland has detailed the regulator’s intentions to conduct surveillance on licensees and advisers who are recommending managed accounts, noting a review is “warranted and timely” given the sector’s growth.
AMP and HUB24 have shared the areas where they are seeking future adviser growth, with HUB24 targeting adding more than 2,000 advisers to the platform.
Bravura Solutions has appointed a new chair and deputy chair to take over from departing Matthew Quinn, while Shezad Okhai picks up another responsibility.
Two advisers say M&A is becoming a “contact sport” as competition heats up to acquire attractive advice firms, while a lack of new entrants creates roadblocks in organic growth opportunities.
