The offending of Jacqui Bradley, the former financial adviser jailed today for seven years and five months on fraud charges, was premeditated and left many elderly investors financially and emotionally ruined, the Auckland District Court heard.
[This fraud case has some similarities to the 2009 conviction of Michael Swann who was given a 9.5 year jail sentence relating to a huge fraud against the Otago District Health Board. See https://www.spcs.org.nz/tag/michael-swann/ ].
A jury last month found Bradley, aged 61, guilty of 75 charges of fraud after a five-week trial. Bradley ran the failed finance company B’On Financial Services with her late husband Mike until it collapsed in December 2009 owing 28 investors $15.5 million.
Judge Christopher Field, in sentencing today, said the extent of loss, harm and damage was “very significant indeed”…..
It’s the third prosecution involving an affinity fraud by financial advisers that the SFO has completed in the past three months with offending across all three cases totalling almost $21m.
In other recent white collar crime cases those found guilty received a range of sentences in line with that handed out to Jacqui Bradley today.
Former Capital + Merchant directors Wayne Douglas and Neal Nicholls were give 7 and a half years jail in July on various fraud counts involving about $28m of transactions after Justice Edwin Wylie said they were motivate by greed and self-interest. DataSouth director Gavin Bennett got 8 years jail in May for defrauding South Canterbury Finance while Bridgecorp director Rod Petricevic got almost 7 years in April for misleading investors and spending company money on a luxury yacht.
Former ASB bank employee Stephen Velsalko got six years jail time in a 2010 case involving $17m stolen from his employer while in 2009 Michael Swann was given 9.5 years relating to a huge fraud against the Otago District Health Board.
For more see: Bradley offending premeditated. Story by Nick Kraus
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7837957/Bradley-offending-premeditated
Further reading:
See: https://www.spcs.org.nz/2010/michael-swann-checketts-mckay-fraud-and-otago-dhbs-missing-6-million-report/
https://www.spcs.org.nz/2010/michael-swann-computer-south-ltd-and-checketts-mckay-law/