Adviser jailed for 6 years for illegal use of client funds

Former Sunshine Coast financial adviser Brett Gordon has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for illegally withdrawing funds from his clients’ SMSF accounts.

In a statement on Tuesday, the corporate regulator said that Mr Gordon pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud totalling $652,500 before the Maroochydore District Court.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) explained that Mr Gordon was a director and financial adviser of his financial planning business, Refocus Financial Group, and that between 2015 and 2018, he withdrew funds without authorisation from his clients’ SMSF accounts and from Diverse Capital Management, which held funds deposited by his SMSF clients for property development purposes.

He dishonestly used those funds for personal debts and expenses, as well as for Refocus’ business expenses.

In sentencing Mr Gordon, Judge Barlow KC described his conduct as “deliberate, fraudulent and unforgivable given his position of trust” and noted that his conduct involved people’s livelihood and occurred over a number of years. Judge Barlow KC also observed that Mr Gordon did not attempt to repay his victims.

On 11 July 2018, the Supreme Court of Queensland made final orders by consent, on the application of ASIC, winding up entities operated by Mr Gordon, Refocus and Consultia Super, and restraining Mr Gordon from carrying on a financial services business without holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence or being an authorised representative of an AFS licensee.

Late last week, senior financial planner Gavin Fineff was sentenced by the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney after he pleaded guilty last year to deceiving 12 victims out of a total of $3.4 million over a period of three and a half years.

According to court documents, Mr Fineff, a former employer at Sentinel Wealth, offended against 12 individual victims who had trusted him with their savings and investments.

His crimes involved fraud of significant sums of money ranging between $60,000 and $745,000 and occurred in the period from October 2016 to March 2020.