Former director pleads guilty to theft

James Gibbs, a financial planner and director of James Gibbs Investments was accused by ASIC to have stolen approximately $4.88 million of funds under management.

The alleged theft occurred between 20 August 2009 and 30 July 2016 and affected several his clients with self-managed super funds which Mr Gibbs was able to access via bank accounts.

The alleged misconduct occurred while Mr Gibbs and James Gibbs Investments were authorised representatives of Madison Financial Group who alerted ASIC to the allegations following a breach report.

ASIC further alleged that between 25 June 2012 and 30 July 2016, Mr Gibbs created and used false documents, including banking documents and member statements.

Mr Gibbs appeared in front of the Magistrates Court last week and pleaded guilty to all offences and was placed on bail to reappear later this month.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment for each offence prior to 2012 and 15-years imprisonments for each offence after that time.

Eliot Hastie

Eliot Hastie is a journalist at Momentum Media, writing primarily for its wealth and financial services platforms. 

Eliot joined the team in 2018 having previously written on Real Estate Business with Momentum Media as well.

Eliot graduated from the University of Westminster, UK with a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism).

You can email him on: [email protected]