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Brian Wood of Davistown and Jimmy Truong of St John’s Park have pleaded guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney to operating a Ponzi scheme called the Integrity Plus Fund.
Facing the Court on 5 June 2012, Mr Wood pleaded guilty to a total of 10 charges, including six counts of making false statements to investors and four counts of fraudulently misappropriating investors’ funds. Mr Truong pleaded guilty to four charges of making false statements to investors. Both men falsely stated to investors that their investments would earn returns of 4% per month and that the capital amounts of their investments were guaranteed.
A third man, Con Koutsoukos of Wiley Park, has not entered a plea to three charges of making false statements to investors.
Mr Wood and Mr Truong will next appear in the District Court at Sydney for sentencing on 15 June 2012. Mr Koutsoukos’s matter has been adjourned and he will next appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on 3 July 2012.
Background
Between December 2004 and December 2007 the Integrity Plus scheme raised in excess of $30 million from about 270 investors. In December 2007 ASIC obtained injunctions from the Supreme Court of NSW against Mr Wood, Mr Truong and Mr Koutsoukos and others preventing the operation of Integrity Plus and securing funds for investors (refer: 07-326). In June 2008 a liquidator was appointed to the Integrity Plus Fund (refer: 08-129).
At the time the offences of making false statements to investors under section 1041E of the Corporations Act 2001 were committed in this case, each offence carried a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 5 years or a $22,000 fine or both. These penalties have since been increased to imprisonment for 10 years or a $495,000 fine or both.
Each of the fraudulently misappropriating investors’ funds charges under section 178A of the NSW Crimes Act carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 7 years.
