WA court convicts consultant over shares scheme

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has sentenced a financial consultant to 15 months’ imprisonment over his involvement in manipulating the share price of an ASX-listed mining company.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched legal proceedings against corporate consultant Benjamin Cooper, Inglewood-based investor Don Evans and former Quantum Resources director Avrohom Kimelman last year.

ASIC alleged the trio conspired to artificially inflate the share price of Quantum when the ASX-listed mining explorer flagged its acquisition of Israeli company LogiTag in November 2015.

Cooper pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced in the Supreme Court of WA on Friday.

He has been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment but is to be released immediately, subject to a $6,000 bond of good behaviour for the next two years.

Supreme Court Justice Amanda Forrester’s sentencing remarks published yesterday said Cooper’s role in the trio’s plan to inflate the share price in Quantum was “somewhat of a lead in the conspiracy”.

The court heard that Cooper, Kimelman and Mr Evans were part of a Viber group chat to discuss the Quantum share price, three days after the company announced its agreement to acquire LogiTag.

Although based in New South Wales, Cooper was sentenced in WA as the trades he carried out was through WA-based State One Stockbroking and his co-conspirator Mr Evans was based in Perth, according to Justice Forrester’s sentencing remarks.

However, Justice Forrester also said Cooper's offence was towards the lower end of the range of seriousness.

“The duration of the conspiracy and the overt acts committed in furtherance of it was short, lasting less than a day,” she said in her sentencing remarks.

“However, on that day the combined trading activity of you and your co-conspirators represented more than 23 per cent of all trading in Quantum shares on that day and was responsible for a number of price increases.”

Justice Forrester said the trio’s purpose was to increase interest in the market in Quantum shares and encourage others to invest following the LogiTag announcement but Cooper stood to benefit personally through his consultancy in making the acquisition a success.

“The Crown alleges that your role in the conspiracy was on a par with Mr Evans and Mr Kimelman, but that you were engaged in more overt acts than the others," she said in her sentencing remarks.

“In the case of the overt acts, you engaged in many more trades than the others and, in each case where a trade took place, it affected the market for the shares.”

Cooper has also been disqualified from managing corporations for five years.

Kimelman received an 18-month suspended jail term over his role in the conspiracy.

Mr Evans also pleaded guilty earlier this year, with his next court appearance scheduled for January 31.

Quantum has changed its name to Nova Minerals.