Planning principal charged with fraud
The principal of a firm placed into administration has been charged with fraud, with charges related to the use of SMSFs.
ASIC announced yesterday afternoon that Bradley Thomas Sherwin, chairman of Wickham Securities Limited and principal of Sherwin Financial Planners Pty Ltd, had faced court charged with various fraud offences following an ASIC investigation.
Queensland-based Mr Sherwin appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with 33 counts of dishonestly causing detriment totalling nearly $10 million between May 2009 and December 2012.
The charges relate to the use of SMSFs of former clients of Sherwin Financial Planners, ASIC said.
Mr Sherwin was also charged with one count of dishonestly breaching his duties as a director of Wickham Securities Limited between November 2009 and October 2010.
ASIC stated that Mr Sherwin was not required to enter a plea and was granted conditional bail.
The matter will return to the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 23 July 2015; The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
Wickham Securities collapsed owing more than $27 million to approximately 300 debenture holders, ASIC said. The firm was placed into administration in December 2012 and liquidation in February 2013, with Grant Sparks and David Leigh of PPB Advisory as liquidators.
Sherwin Financial Planners was placed into administration in January 2013 and liquidation in February 2013, along with other companies of which Mr Sherwin was a director, including Reacroft Pty Ltd, Astor Funds Pty Ltd and Blue Diamond Investments Pty Ltd.
