The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has taken further action relating to the Wall and Ceiling Superannuation Scheme, announcing that the County Court of Victoria last week convicted a chartered accountant and an auditor on charges relating to the fund.
According to APRA, chartered accountant Paul Hullin and auditor Robert Elliott had been convicted on charges relating to intentionally entering into, or carrying out, a scheme to deceive APRA in relation to the Wall and Ceiling Fund.
It said that the County Court had fined Hullin $7,000 and Elliott $3,000 for their offences under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act).
It said the charges had related to a joint investigation by APRA and the Australian Federal Police.
Hullin pleaded guilty to the offence in February while Elliott had earlier pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, which sentenced him in July last year (without recording a conviction). The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, which prosecuted both matters, appealed the adequacy of Elliott’s original sentence and against the decision of the Magistrates Court to sentence him without recording a conviction.
The County Court ruled in favour of the appeal against Elliott’s sentence and decided that a conviction should be recorded against him. It also handed down the sentence against Hullin.
It had been alleged that Hullin arranged the creation of back-dated unit trusts and falsified accounting records with the knowledge that the records would be used to subvert the objectives of the SIS Act. It was further alleged that such conduct constituted a scheme which was designed to enable the Wall and Ceiling Superannuation Fund to avoid the operation of the in-house assets rules in relation to its investments in purpose-built commercial factories.
