Financial planner Gavin Fineff has been sentenced to a maximum of nine years in gaol after gambling away more than $3.3 million of his clients’ money. Fineff was sentenced in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court in April this year. Fineff pleaded guilty to 12 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, committed between October 2016 and March 2020.
Fineff’s fraud against 12 victims, who trusted him with personal loans, were falsely told that it would be put towards shares. The individual losses ranged from $60,000 to $745,000 and totalled $3,355,026.
“The funds were predominantly used by the offender for gambling, without the knowledge of the victims” Judge Christopher O’Brien said. Most of Fineff’s gambling was on horse racing. His total loss to betting agencies Ladbrokes and Sportsbet/BetEasy was more than $4.4 million between June 2014 and March 2020.
The Offence
A person who, by deception, dishonestly obtains property belonging to someone else, or obtains a financial advantage or causes a financial disadvantage, is guilty of an offence under section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900. The maximum penalty for this offence is ten years imprisonment. The statutory alternative for the offence of obtain benefit by deception is the offence of larceny, which means that a person tried for obtain benefit by deception can be found guilty of larceny instead.
Deception
Deception is defined as any deception, by words or other conduct, as to fact or as to law, including:
- A deception as to the intentions of the person using the deception or any other person, or
- Conduct by a person that causes a computer, a machine or any electronic device to make a response that the person is not authorised to cause it to make.
Dishonesty
Dishonesty means dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people and known by the defendant to be dishonest according to the standards of ordinary people.
To find a person guilty of this offence, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:
That the person, by deception:
- Obtained a financial advantage; or
- Caused a financial disadvantage; or
- Obtained property belonging to another; and
- the obtaining of the property, advantage, or disadvantage was dishonest.
Obtaining Property
A person “obtains property” if:
- The person obtains ownership, possession or control of the property for themselves or for another person, or
- The person enables ownership, possession or control of the property to be retained by themselves or by another person, or
- The person induces a third person to do something that results in the person or another person obtaining or retaining ownership, possession or control of the property.
Obtaining a Financial Advantage
Obtaining a financial advantage includes:
- Obtain a financial advantage for oneself or for another person, and
- Induce a third person to do something that results in oneself or another person obtaining a financial advantage, and
- Keep a financial advantage that one has, whether the financial advantage is permanent or temporary.
Causing a Financial Disadvantage
Causing a financial disadvantage means:
- Cause a financial disadvantage to another person, or
- Induce a third person to do something that results in another person suffering a financial disadvantage, whether the financial disadvantage is permanent or temporary.
If you require legal advice or representation in relation to any criminal matters, you may contact Green & Associates on (02) 8080 7585 for a consultation.
