Perth director sentenced to jail on fraud charge

Former Aperio Resources director Andy Lim has been sentenced to 12 months jail in the Perth District Court on a fraud charge brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The 34 year old from Rivervale pleaded guilty to one charge of fraudulently inducing an investor to deliver $100,000 to Andean Securities, a company in which he was a the sole director.

When Mr Lim was appointed as a director of gold exploration firm Aperio Resources in 2011, a 70 year old former client of his expressed an interest in investing $100,000 in an initial public offering the company was undertaking.

“ASIC’s investigations indicated that Mr Lim had induced this investor to make a cheque for $100,000 payable to Andean Securities, contrary to the instructions on the prospectus, with the intention that he would then use the $100,000 at his own will,” ASIC said in a statement.

The court heard that Mr Lim transferred the funds into his private bank account and used them for business and personal purposes, which were unrelated to the IPO.

ASIC commissioner John Price said Mr Lim’s conduct was contrary to the high standards expected from company directors and breached the trust of his former client.

“ASIC will ensure company directors who act fraudulently and seek to benefit personally are brought to account,” Mr Price said.