In a statement on Tuesday, ASIC said that former van Eyk Research CEO Mark Thomas had pleaded guilty to dishonestly using his position as a director with the intention of directly or indirectly gaining an advantage for himself in the Downing Centre Local Court.
The corporate regulator said that Mr Thomas dishonestly used his position as director of New Zealand-based Blueprint Investment Management, a subsidiary of van Eyk, to facilitate an investment of nearly $5 million in a separate fund, the Wholesale Enhanced Income Fund.
These funds were then loaned to another company, TAA Melbourne, to purchase an interest in van Eyk Research.
“These transactions prevented a third party from gaining control of van Eyk Research, of which Mr Thomas was the CEO, ensuring that Mr Thomas maintained control of the company’s affairs and strategy,” ASIC said.
“By doing this, Mr Thomas used his position as a director dishonestly with the intention of directly or indirectly gaining an advantage for himself.”
The maximum penalty faced by Mr Thomas is $340,000, five years’ imprisonment, or both.
ASIC confirmed that the matter will be before the Downing Centre District Court for mention on 1 July, at which time a sentencing date is expected to be set.
“Large financial services company CEO acts in own self interest ahead of clients”… Surely no-one’s in shock here. Before going out on my own, under our own AFSL, I worked for numerous large financial institutions and never came across anyone higher than Regional Manager who was doing anything other than making decisions based on their own self-interest/advancement/promotion. Like politicians, very few managers running businesses they don’t actually own think beyond their next job. Even fewer make decisions based on what’s best for clients/staff in 10-20-30 years time, because the system teaches them to think in cycles of a few years (i.e. management tennure)
These Frauds like this are a Pandemic in their own right , more checks and balance needed here , too many cowboys looking to steal the herd they are paid to look after
That’s eight years ago….Just imagine today if your portfolio using a MDA structure, your multi manager, Lonsec, Morningstar, Zenith etc etc got frozen by the trustee because of this mess….. Hopefully you’ll agree that the maximum penalty of $340,000 is a $0.75c speeding ticket.
I wonder who the third party was and whether them getting control would have been better or worse than what happened?