Adviser charged over $4.5 million fraud
Former Tasmanian financial adviser Mervyn William Mitchell appeared in Hobart Magistrates Court today on 110 charges brought by theAustralian Securities and Investments Commission(ASIC).
The regulator alleges that between July 1995 and May 2003, Mitchell dishonestly obtained more than $4.5 million from the superannuation and investment funds of 59 of his clients, which was then used for his own purposes.
Following a joint investigation by ASIC and Tasmania Police Fraud Investigation Services, the charges were laid under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act, the Corporations Act and the Tasmanian Criminal Code.
Mitchell did not enter a plea and was granted bail to appear again on November 11.
Earlier this week, ASIC brought a fraud charge against a former AMP superannuation agent in the Sydney District Court.
An ASIC investigation found that between 1993 and 1998, Harold Frederick Moses, who had been operating a superannuation intermediary business through his company Baxters Holdings, accepted $318,000 in compulsory employer superannuation contributions from his client but failed to pass these on to the relevant superannuation funds - AMP and Host-Plus.
Moses resigned as an AMP agent in June 1994, but continued to receive the superannuation contributions from his client.
Moses pleaded guilty to the fraud charge and will be sentenced in October.
AUTHOR
Freya Purnell
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