Former financial adviser sentenced to almost a decade in prison

Terence Nugara, who stole $10.2 million from 38 clients between 10 October 2014 and 9 January 2019 while he was the principal of Skynet Financial Services, was sentenced to nine years and 11 months jail for 37 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and two charges of theft.

His sentence includes a non-parole period of six years and six months, which, combined with time served, makes Nugara eligible for release as early as April 2029.

Nugara’s authorisation to provide financial advice was originally suspended in March 2015 before being terminated in October 2016. In April 2023, he was permanently banned from providing financial services.

In handing down the sentence on Thursday, Judge Trevor Wraight said the ongoing and persistent nature of Nugara’s offending was “very serious”.

“As submitted by the prosecution, during the offending period you must have been aware that you were sustaining losses and were unable to repay the victims. Nonetheless, you persisted, luring more victims into trusting you with their life savings only for you to deliberately misuse and lose their money,” Judge Wraight said.

“In all the circumstances, your offending can only be described as reprehensible, callous, and selfish conduct and in my view, your moral culpability is very high.”

In most cases, Nugara convinced victims to transfer their savings or roll over monies held in their superannuation accounts to self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) accounts he set up and had access to, in order to invest in property developments in both Melbourne and Bali.

Some of the victims were unaware that Nugara had access to their accounts when the purported investments were made.

Instead, he used the client funds to fund an extravagant lifestyle over the course of several years, including overseas trips, race cars, boats, and other luxury items, with Judge Wraight attributing the offending as being “motivated by greed and a desire to maintain your lifestyle”.

Among the offences was a supposed redevelopment of a property at 267 Bluff Road, Sandringham, between October 2014 and May 2017. Nugara obtained more than $1.9 million from six clients for the purported purpose of developing the property, convincing his victims that he was responsible for the development and that they would receive a 98.93 per cent return on investment.

In reality, the development was carried out by private investors, without any contribution from outside investors.

It is a similar story across six other properties in Melbourne and one in Seminyak, Bali. The sums ranged from $150,000 to in excess of $4 million across these fraudulent property developments.

A total of 18 of Nugara’s victims provided victim impact statements, with many noting the “financial devastation” he caused.

“Some have been compelled to sell their homes in order to adjust to their reduced financial circumstances; others have had to delay retirement or apply for Centrelink,” Judge Wraight said.

“The victims who engaged solicitors to try to recoup their money from you are now out of pocket for those legal costs. In many cases, the financial strain you have caused your victims has impacted upon their marriages, friendships and other social relationships, especially in cases where victims, unaware of your deceit, referred their friends and family members to you in the belief that they were involving them in a lucrative investment opportunity.”

Among the victims, many held pre-existing relationships with Nugara, including one victim who he would visit her at her retirement home, bringing flowers and taking her out to lunch.

“It is overwhelmingly clear from these victim impact statements that you took advantage of people who had placed their trust in you, many of whom were older and looking forward to a comfortable retirement,” Judge Wraight added.

Nugara pleaded guilty to the charges last week, with Judge Wraight saying that the guilty plea was taken into consideration during sentencing.