The former director and property investment scheme promoter Gabrial Neil Pennicott has been sentenced to more than four years jail.
The former Sunset Capital Pty Ltd director was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria on Friday to a prison term of four years and seven months.
Pennicott was also handed a non-parole period of three years and three months on 23 charges brought by ASIC.
Pennicott was found guilty by a jury on 13 July 2011 of six charges of dishonestly using his position as a director or officer of various companies contrary to section 184(2)(a) of the Corporations Act.
He also faced four charges of dishonestly obtaining property by deception contrary to section 81 of the Victorian Crimes Act; and six charges of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception contrary to section 82(1) of the Victorian Crimes Act.
Pennicott was also charged with seven accounts of attempting to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage by deception contrary to sections 321M and 82(1) of the Victorian Crimes Act.
Among his offences, Pennicott transferred shares between companies he controlled at artificially inflated prices so as to change the balances of inter-company loan accounts between the companies. The book value of these transactions was $2.465 million.
He also transferred and attempted to transfer shares at artificially inflated prices to repay and attempt to repay amounts owed to lenders to a company he controlled in lieu of repaying the monies owed. The value of the loans was $1.238 million.
On 30 April 2009, Pennicott was permanently banned by ASIC from the financial securities industry.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter.
