wmlro.com: ASIC gets criminal conviction for laundering
In what we think is a first, Australian regulator ASIC has secured a criminal conviction for money laundering.
Regulators all over the world are looking for ways to bring criminal prosecutions and, in particular, for money laundering.
The reason is simple: credit - and often money - goes with securing such a conviction and a confiscation order. While police and other enforcement agencies shore up their budgets with shares of proceeds of crime actions, regulators are left out. And, in jurisdictions where confiscated assets are shared, this is a potentially vast source of revenue.
ASIC has specific criminal prosecution powers. When it charged Hugh Charles Gordon, formerly head of Whet Investments Limited - an unlisted public company that sold shares to the value of almost AUD11 million to retail investors, ASIC decided that his conduct was dishonest, and therefore subject to money laundering laws.
The action began under the previous version of Australia's counter-money laundering laws: On 10 July 2005 Whet Investments was placed into voluntary administration by its directors. A Deed of Company Arrangement was executed on 21 October 2005. Mr Gordon was declared bankrupt on 23 January 2007. In 2005, ASIC took several civil actions against Whet Investments, Mr Gordon and companies associated with him.
Other regulators will be clamouring for a copy of the indictment and the judgment. If there is any precedent they can follow, they will be delighted to do so.
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