Former Gold Coast adviser given prison sentence

On 25 May 2018, Birk pleaded guilty to five counts of dishonestly using his position as director of the Carter Group with the intention of gaining an advantage, for himself or others, in the amount of approximately $800,000, ASIC said in a statement.

The charges relate to conduct between September 2010 and October 2011, while Birk was an authorised representative of Professional Investment Services (PIS) and a director of the Carter Group (now in external administration), which was a corporate authorised representative of PIS.

ASIC alleged that Birk dishonestly used his position as a director in that he:

• caused cheques to be drawn on a client’s superannuation account without authorisation;
• deceived some clients as to the use of funds withdrawn from their superannuation funds;
• deceived another client as to the price at which units in an unlisted registered managed investment scheme had been sold for and used a portion of the proceeds for the benefit of Birk’s father; and
• misled clients in relation to the value and other details of units they had purchased in an unlisted registered managed investment scheme.

“Mr Birk’s actions were dishonest and betrayed the trust of his clients,” said ASIC commissioner Danielle Press.

“Today’s decision shows this type of behaviour will be met with serious consequences.”

ASIC said Birk can be released after serving four months upon entering into a recognisance order of $10,000 upon the condition that he be of good behaviour for a period of two-and-a-half years. 

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].