04-289 Sydney securities dealer jailed
Thursday 9 September 2004
Mr Upul Samantha Anthony, of Sydney New South Wales (NSW), was sentenced today in the Sydney District Court to four years and six months imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and nine months, on criminal charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the NSW Police.
Mr Anthony, a former securities lending dealer with Cogent Securities Pty Ltd (Cogent Securities) in Sydney, pleaded guilty to three charges of market manipulation brought by ASIC, and 16 charges brought by the NSW Police. He was sentenced to 18 months for each of the ASIC charges, to be served concurrently with a non-parole period of 11 months, and one year and 10 months in relation to the NSW Police charges.
ASIC alleged that Mr Anthony manipulated the price of shares in Nugold Hill Mines Limited (NGH) between March and November 2001, and those of Advantage Telecommunications Limited (ATC) between January and September 2002. NGH relisted as ATC in early 2002.
ASIC’s investigation found that Mr Anthony traded shares through a number of brokers under various account names. This share trading had the effect of creating an artificial price for the shares of NGH and ATC as well as maintaining the price at a level that was artificial.
Mr Anthony admitted to misappropriating approximately $3.7 million from Cogent Securities to pay for the purchase of shares in NGH and ATC. He also misappropriated $7 million from Cogent Securities to a company related to ATC to support ATC’s business operations in Hong Kong.
Mr Anthony’s cooperation in the investigation of this matter was taken into account by Justice Nield during sentencing.
Mr Anthony pleaded guilty to 16 charges brought by the NSW Police of obtaining benefit by deception regarding the fraudulent use of $16 million belonging to Cogent Securities. Another 58 similar charges were taken into account on sentencing.
ASIC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, Ms Jan Redfern, said the jailing of Mr Anthony sent a message that ASIC nor the community would tolerate dealers who disregard the law.
‘ASIC will continue to take action against those who conduct themselves in a manner that undermines the integrity of the market’, Ms Redfern said.
The charges were prosecuted by the Commonwealth and State Director of Public Prosecutions.
ASIC Website: Printed 01/07/2009
