Former Sunset Capital director Gabrial Neil Pennicott of Mermaid Waters, Queensland, has been found guilty of a range of charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) relating to dishonest share trading.
Pennicott was found guilty of a total of 23 charges including dishonestly using his position as a director, obtaining property by deception and obtaining financial advantage by deception, ASIC stated.
The charges relate to Pennicott transferring shares owned by companies he controlled at artificially inflated prices to change the balances of inter-company loan accounts between the companies to the value of $2,465,000.
Pennicott also transferred shares to repay amounts owed to lenders to a company he controlled in lieu of repaying the monies owed, to the value of $1.2 million; and transferred shares to himself at artificially inflated prices then onto another company he controlled, resulting in cash being paid to himself and another person to the value of $125,000, according to ASIC.
Pennicott also sold artificially inflated shares to investors then obtained those shares for a company he controlled and to which the company was not entitled, to the value of $200,000, ASIC stated.
Pennicott’s co-accused Jan Li, a former director of Sunset Capital, has pleaded guilty to breaching directors’ duties for taking part in the inter-company loans. Li received a 34-month suspended sentence and a three years good behaviour bond, as well as a $5,000 fine. Li has previously been banned by ASIC from the financial securities industry for eight years.
Pennicott has previously been permanently banned by ASIC from the financial securities industry over the same offences. A plea hearing for the current charges is set for 26 August.
