Hobart-based Ashley Grant Howard has been convicted, after pleading guilty before the Downing Centre Local Court, to two charges of using false documents to obtain a financial advantage or cause a financial disadvantage.
In a statement on Wednesday, ASIC confirmed that between July 2013 and April 2014, Mr Howard used false off market transfer forms to transfer shares in GPS Alliance Holdings Limited, BHP Billiton Limited and Aquarius Platinum Limited to himself and an associate.
The transfers occurred without the knowledge or authority of the 14 owners of the shares.
Mr Howard was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
Magistrate Covington remarked upon sentencing that Mr Howard was in a position of trust as a financial planner when he used the false documents and that his offending had a degree of sophistication.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter after a referral from ASIC.
Previously, Mr Howard pleaded guilty to the offences under s254(b)(ii) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The maximum penalty per offence, when dealt with summarily, is two years imprisonment and/or a fine of $11,000.
In October 2016, ASIC permanently banned Mr Howard from providing financial services in relation to matters unrelated to the charges before the Court.
Given ASIC I would suspect it’s not fraud…It’s a poor guy bogged down in red tape, forced to cut corners to provide a service. I can’t explain the conduct but we can only come to the conclusion his actions were forced upon him due to the bad regulation, the corruption within the regulator in ASIC, causing him to cut corners somewhere for some reason.
As a honest financial planner, I am getting awfully sick of the very, very low penalties given to those crooks in our industry. The Courts need to “grow some balls” and ban those convicted of financial advice industry fraud for life.
Thankyou Paul yes there are honest people like you out there, but the Ashley Grant Howard’s of the world give all of you a bad name and scare people off coming to you. I’m glad you feel this way.
So he’s really a stock broker?
Seems light sentence for a scummy action like that!