Melbourne sharetrader, Mr Peter Robert Woodland, pleaded guilty on Friday 16 November 2007, in the County Court of Victoria to one count of insider trading and one count of communicating inside information to other persons. The charges were brought by ASIC.
Mr Woodland, of Frankston, Victoria, pleaded guilty to acquiring a total of 584,000 shares in Kanowna Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd (Kanowna) in multiple transactions at a cost of $27,000 between 28 November and 5 December 2003 while possessing information that was not generally available and was expected to have a material effect on the value of the securities of Western Australian mining company, Kanowna, now known as Andean Resources Limited.
Mr Woodland also pleaded guilty to one count of communicating inside information to other persons via the internet at a time when the information was not generally available to the public between 24 November and 7 December 2003, and when he knew or ought reasonably to have known those persons would be likely to apply for or acquire Kanowna shares.
ASIC alleged that Mr Woodland was in possession of inside information prior to an announcement to the market by Kanowna on 10 December 2003 regarding Kanowna’s acquisition of the Cerro Negro gold mine project in Argentina. The price of Kanowna shares rose by over 100 per cent as a result of this information.
Mr Woodland’s bail was extended and he will next appear in the County Court of Victoria on 13 December 2007 for submissions on sentencing.
The matter was investigated by ASIC following a referral from the Australian Securities Exchange.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
