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A former NSW mortgage broker and property developer has been jailed for two years and three months after pleading guilty to charges of fraud.
Samuel Saunders, a former director of Mortgage Finance Australia, pleaded guilty on 25 August 2009 to seven charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
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His sentence was handed down in the NSW District Court last Friday, with information about the charges released by ASIC yesterday.
According to ASIC, Mr Saunders, who assisted a number of the investors to refinance their mortgages between July and September 2004, would use the redrawn equity from his client’s investments to fund investments he promoted.
Mr Saunders raised approximately $460,000 from 13 investors for the purposes of investing in property developments. Many of the investors were known to him through his local church.
He pleaded guilty to making misleading and/or false statements to six investors about the risks associated with the investment. He also pleaded guilty to raising funds from seven investors for the purposes of a property development by Rafferty’s Group, of which he was also a director, and fraudulently omitting to pay the investors’ capital to this company.
Last week, Mr Saunders was given a non-parole period of 12 months by the NSW District Court.
