Securities: Market Manipulator sentenced

But Newing will not spend any time in jail: under Australian federal criminal law, the judge may elect to order that she serve her time under a "recognisance release order." This is a combination of bail (which is not a sentence) and a suspended sentence. Under the Order, a bond is made available to secure the good behaviour of the convicted person during the specified period.

Indeed, the Judge commented that, had Newring not pleaded guilty and had been found guilty, she would have been sentenced to two years' jail of which six months would have been served immediately prior to being eligible for a release order.

The sentence followed an investigation by ASIC into Mrs Newing’s involvement in the trading of Genetic Technologies Limited (GTG) shares between 18 April 2005 and 2 November 2006. During this period Mrs Newing took part in transactions involving purchases of more than 5.9 million GTG shares carried out through share trading accounts held in her name, and in the names of companies related to her father, Dr Mervyn Jacobson (GTG co-founder, former CEO, and major shareholder) and husband, Mr Geoffrey Newing (former GTG chief operating officer), namely XY Inc. and Palamine Pty Ltd.
These transactions were likely to have created or maintained an artificial price for trading in GTG shares contrary to section 1041A of the Corporations Act 2001.

On 19 March 2010, following pleas of guilty to five counts of market manipulation, Mr Geoffrey Newing was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment with a minimum period to serve of 6 months

On 4 February 2010, Dr Jacobson, together with his daughter, Mrs Newing, was committed to stand trial on 319 and 353 counts of market manipulation respectively. The trial for Dr Jacobson has been set down to commence on 1 August 2011.
In February 2009, two former client advisers were sentenced in the County Court of Victoria after pleading guilty to market manipulation charges in relation to trading in GTG shares.
Mr Rocco Musumeci a former client adviser with Bell Potter in Wollongong New South Wales was sentenced to seven months imprisonment fully suspended while Mr Richard John Wade a former client adviser with ABN Amro in Melbourne, Victoria was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment fully suspended.

Mr Musumeci, Mr Wade and Mr Clive Henley, then employed as a client adviser by Tolhurst Ltd, were banned by ASIC from providing financial services for periods of two, five and three years respectively.