A FORMER mortgage broker from Coffs Harbour has been sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to seven fraud charges.
Dominic Cincotta has been sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court to five years in prison following charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Cincotta was charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage in relation to funds totalling $5.8 million.
A further four charges in relation to $690,000, including one of fraudulent misappropriation, were taken into account on sentencing.
The charges relate to funds invested by nine of Cincotta’s former clients who were located in
Between November 1998 and December 2004, Cincotta falsely represented to a number of clients that he would arrange investments with Perpetual Trustees Australia Limited in accounts such as a Mortgage Offset Account, Bricks and Mortar Fund, Fixed Mortgage Investment Account or Investment Deposit Account, earning interest at rates between
6.75% and 10.75% per annum.
The funds were, in fact, deposited to accounts controlled by Cincotta, including a Perpetual Investment Management Limited Cash Management account in the name of his wife, and a St George Bank account in the name of his company ACN 067 567 702 Pty Ltd.
Cincotta then used the funds for his own purposes.
“When people invest their funds, they place a high degree of trust in the organisation or individual that facilitates the process,” ASIC’s executive director of enforcement said Jan Redfern said.
“As this outcome shows, those who abuse that trust by deliberately misleading their clients, face serious consequences,” Redfern concluded.
Cincotta will serve a minimum of three years in prison.
Australian Property Journal
