Sentencing decision in the Westpoint CFO criminal case
ASIC notes the sentencing decision of former Westpoint chief financial officer Graeme Rundle in the Parramatta District Court on Friday 9 September 2011.
Mr Rundle was found guilty of two criminal offences of making a false or misleading statement with intent to obtain a financial advantage for Scots Church Development Limited by a jury on 24 June 2011. The charges were brought by ASIC.
Mr Rundle’s offences involved contraventions of section 178BB of the NSW Crimes Act. The charges related to statements made to a financial institution in relation to obtaining a $71 million construction finance facility to complete a project at York Street, Sydney.
ASIC Chairman Greg Medcraft said chief financial officers, as an officer of a corporation, must take their responsibilities seriously, and discharge their legal duties to the company and to comply with the law carefully.
‘Chief financial officers must ensure that any representations made by them to financiers, on behalf of companies, are accurate,’ Mr Medcraft said.
Mr Medcraft said the case highlighted ASIC’s willingness to address corporate misconduct. ‘To date ASIC has pursued a wide range of actions and remedies concerning Westpoint against gatekeepers such as financial advisers, auditors, trustees and directors,’ Mr Medcraft said.
Mr Rundle was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment on each count (to be served concurrently), with the sentence to be suspended upon him entering into an eighteen-month good behaviour bond.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter.
