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The former director and CEO of a member-owned bank has received several imprisonment sentences for dishonesty.
Lyndon Allen Kingston, the previous CEO and director of Bananacoast Community Credit Union Limited (bcu), was found guilty of four dishonesty offences last month and has now been sentenced.
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Following a four-week trial in the Brisbane District Court after an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), on 12 November 2024, a jury found Kingston guilty of the following offences, which occurred between December 2015 and August 2017:
- Dishonestly using his position to gain advantage for himself by unlawfully receiving payments from two bcu contractors, which were made to Kingston without the approval or knowledge of the bcu board (counts one and two).
- Providing false and misleading information to the auditor of bcu to conceal the payments (counts five and six).
On 10 December 2024, Kingston was sentenced to nine months imprisonment for count one, 18 months imprisonment for count two, and six months imprisonment for each of counts five and six, to be served concurrently.
However, the court ordered that Kingston be released after serving six months imprisonment following payment of a $1,000 fine on the condition of good behaviour for the remaining 12 months of his sentence.
Given that the jury were unable to reach a unanimous verdict concerning two further counts with which Kingston was charged (counts three and four), those counts were discontinued by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) at the sentencing hearing. The CDPP had previously withdrawn another count against Kingston relating to allegations of the dishonest use of his position as a director of bcu.
At the time the offences were committed, Kingston was the CEO and a director of bcu.
He previously held professional roles in audit and regulation and as a banking executive.
ASIC chair Joe Longo said: “As a director and CEO, Mr Kingston betrayed his position by dishonestly using his role to gain an advantage for himself, then attempting to conceal his wrongdoing. ASIC is committed to investigating dishonest conduct by directors and prosecuting such cases.”
In sentencing Kingston, Judge Carl Heaton KC said: “You were in a position of trust which you knew, and you exploited” and “… [you] denied the board the opportunity to ensure good governance, transparency and integrity …”
Background to the case
On 29 November 2019, Kingston was charged with:
- Three counts of dishonest use of his position as a director of bcu.
- Two counts of providing false information to bcu.
- One count of making a false document with the intention of dishonestly inducing a public official to accept as genuine.
- One count of using a false document with the intention of dishonestly inducing a public official to accept as genuine.
At the time of the offending, bcu was a credit union based in Coffs Harbour.
In 2019, it merged with Police and Nurses Limited (P&N Bank), a Western Australia-based community-owned bank. bcu is now a division of that bank.
[Related: Bank merger officially comes into effect]
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