Former banned dealer group head Jeff Braysich has avoided jail after a Perth court convicted him of market rigging.
Braysich, 46, was suspended from 12 months imprisonment on Friday by giving a $5000 surety to be on a two-year good behaviour bond.
He was also fined $24,000.
Perth entrepreneur Dean Scook, 56, was sentenced to three years in prison to be released after serving 14 months upon giving a $5000 surety to be on good behaviour for the balance of the term.
On November 10, Scook and Braysich, formerly managing director of defunct financial services group Saxby Bridge, were found guilty by a jury in the Perth District Court of unlawful trading in Intrepid Mining Corporation.
The company was later known as Cobra Resources and is now called Resource Mining Corporation.
At the time, Braysich was Scook’s Sydney-based stockbroker at Paul Morgan Securities.
Braysich’s charges related to trading between two accounts that did not involve a change in beneficial ownership of the shares.
Snook was convicted for creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in Intrepid.
The charges were laid following a referral from the Australian Securities Exchange and an ASIC investigation.
Braysich has spent years fighting for his reputation after being banned from the financial advice industry in 2001 for five years over allegations of conflicts of interest and inadequate disclosure at Saxby Bridge.
ASIC chairman Tony D’Aloisio said improving confidence in Australia’s capital markets is a priority for the regulator, which will use new investigative techniques to pursue offences like market manipulation.
In sentencing Scook, Judge Henry Wisbey said it was probable that a number of innocent investors would have been disadvantaged by the offences.
“It amounted to a carefully considered and executed deception that necessitated repetitive wrong doing for its effectiveness,” he said.
