Former WealthSure adviser jailed

Former adviser Brian Veitch has been sentenced to 6 years and 2 months in prison after pleading guilty to 22 charges brought by the corporate regulator.

An ASIC investigation found that Mr Veitch was guilty of “21 counts of using false withdrawal requests to cause the fraudulent transfer of funds totalling approximately $500,000 from seven clients' accounts without their knowledge or authority for his own purposes, and 1 count of providing a client with a false portfolio statement causing the client to believe that $300,000 was still in their account when, in fact, it was not”, according to a statement.

“Mr Veitch's actions were planned and deliberate, demonstrating a complete disregard for the interests of his clients,” said ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell.

“The sentence shows that the court views this sort of misconduct by financial advisers very seriously.”