Last year, former Adelaide adviser James Gibbs was sentenced in the District Court of South Australia to 10 years of imprisonment with a non-parole period of seven years.
The banning of Mr Gibbs is the first imposed by ASIC that utilises recent extensions to its banning powers that came into effect on 18 February 2020 as a result of the “Stronger Regulators Act”.
ASIC said the amendments allow it to now ban people from having any involvement in a financial services or credit business, while previously the ban only extended to providing financial services or engaging in credit activities.
Mr Gibbs was convicted of theft and other dishonesty offences committed when he was director of James Gibbs Investments Pty Ltd (JGI) totalling approximately $4.88 million.
He previously pleaded guilty to all charges, which he committed against his clients between 20 August 2009 and 30 July 2016.
At the time, Mr Gibbs was trusted by his clients to operate their SMSF accounts as well as open new accounts.
“In some cases, Mr Gibbs was given almost complete control of his clients’ affairs which enabled him to conduct unauthorised transactions. Once he controlled the accounts, he went on to steal their funds,” ASIC said.
Mr Gibbs has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
It is great that “advisers” such as this person are imprisoned. They give our industry a bad name and limit our earnings and respect. The clients also seem gullible. Why didn’t they employ an auditor – seems like “cheap insurance”” – even if they were legally required.
Totally agree, David.