Daniel Joseph Noonan, a former financial services representative of AMP Financial Planning from 2004 to 2016, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on 23 June 2017 following an investigation by Tasmania Police, the Asic statement said.
The charges related to Noonan misappropriating a total of A$2,495,117 (£1,532,827, $1,976,788, €1,683,119) from 14 clients over a period of nine years.
Noonan “used the money that he fraudulently obtained or stole to gamble or replace sums already misappropriated”, the watchdog explained.
When sentencing Noonan, justice Escourt described his crimes as “egregious violations of his fiduciary duty to his clients.”
The disgraced adviser has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of Asic’s decision.
Flurry of activity
It’s been a few busy months at Asic, with the watchdog steadily intensifying its inquiring activity into financial advisers’ malpractice.
Commenting on the specific case as well as the regulator’s overall activity, deputy chairman Peter Kell said: “Asic will act to remove people from the credit and financial services industry who act dishonestly and breach the trust of their clients.”
Crackdown on money laundering
The news comes a day after the Australian government proposed further financial regulation tightening and stronger money laundering rules, which will include bringing Bitcoin providers under its watch.
The Reuters news agency reported that minister of justice Michael Keenan said a coming bill would be the first stage of reforms to strengthen the country’s Anti-Money Laundering And Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
“The threat of serious financial crime is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and criminals seek to nefariously exploit them. These measures ensure there is nowhere for criminals to hide,” Keenan said, without specifying when the legislation would be introduced.
The bill will also aim to bolster the investigative and enforcement powers of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), the government’s financial intelligence agency.
CBA under the radar
The announcement comes just days after Austrac accused the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) of “serious and systemic” breaches of money laundering laws.
Austrac alleges that six transactions by five customers made through CBA’s intelligent deposit ATMs may have been used by criminal syndicates to wash drug money through the bank, which has failed to monitor and report a total of 53,506 “suspicious” transactions.
“Six of the transactions listed in the statement of claims relate to cash transactions by five customers in whom the bank has assessed a potential link to terrorism or terrorism financing,” acting Austrac chief executive Peter Clark said appearing before a Senate Committee in parliament on Friday.
