Of course his first and now most notable trick was operating as a financial services professional and managing large sums of investor funds allegedly without having the qualifications to do so.
On 4 February this year, Richard faced the New South Wales Supreme Court for a sentencing date to be set for Friday 13 May.
On that particular black Friday, the industry was abuzz with speculation as to what sentence the Canadian businessman would receive.
As well as already being handed a life ban from managing a financial services company, Richard was thought to be facing a maximum 10 years in jail.
However, the former Astarra Asset Management and Trio Capital chief gained a court adjournment for his crimes relating to the loss of around $120 million in the Astarra Strategic Fund (ASF).
The last minute reprieve was agreed to after Richard brought in new legal representation and claimed he required a medical examination due to an apparent mental illness.
Now in all seriousness, mental illness is not a joke and should not be considered as such. What is a joke, in my view, however, is Australia’s legal system in this situation.
At what stage did any of the investors with money linked to Astarra/Trio or the ASF get a second chance to not lose their money?
At what point did the investors get the opportunity to take their money out of the ASF or even contact Richard or others involved in the companies and request their money to be moved and not lost?
The short answer to this is, of course, is no chance.
It may be a bit of a long bow to draw in terms of the similarities with the chances Richard gets after being charged with his crimes, though it appears he is determined (as I suppose we all would be) to keep out of jail.
News of Richard’s second magic trick has been met with varying levels of interest.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” one industry participant said.
“It’s no real surprise,” another said.
“Well that’s the Australian legal system for you,” yet another said.
Surprisingly even one industry participant’s response was: “Who?”
It would appear frustrated investors and others will now be forced to wait until 22 July for Richard’s fate to be known.
