i wonder what tribe this guy was from?

He was certainly a goood chappy... to his little boyfriends!

Rivkin agent guilty of insider trading
17:47 AEDT Fri Nov 19 2004

The real estate agent for former Sydney stockbroker Rene Rivkin has been found guilty of insider trading.

A NSW Supreme Court jury took less than a day to find Robert Doff, commonly known as Bart, guilty of one count of insider trading on April 24, 2001.

The charge related to 20,000 Qantas shares Doff bought on April 24, 2001, only hours after he was told by Impulse Airlines chief Gerry McGowan of a planned merger between Impulse and Qantas.

Doff was the real estate agent for Rivkin, who was last year convicted of insider trading after he bought 50,000 Qantas shares on the same day as Doff.

Rivkin - who made a personal profit of $346 from the transaction - was sentenced to nine months' periodic detention and fined $30,000.

The charges against both Doff and Rivkin were bought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

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ASIC chairman Jeffrey Lucy said the verdict should act as a warning for others.

"The community should feel confident that the Australian stockmarket is an equal playing field that is not open to interference by a select few," Mr Lucy said.

"ASIC will not tolerate people who disregard their responsibilities and use confidential information in a calculated way for personal gain."

During Doff's eight day trial, Crown Prosecutor Richard Maidment SC said Mr McGowan had told Doff of the deal in the accused's Laing and Simmons Real Estate agency in Double Bay.

Mr McGowan was inquiring about a Bellevue Hill property owned by Mr Rivkin at the time.

Mr Maidment said Mr McGowan also warned Doff he was not allowed to purchase the Qantas shares because he had been told of the proposed deal.

"(Doff bought the shares) despite being told at the time he was given the confidential information ... that the information would preclude him from trading in Qantas shares," he said.

Mr Maidment told the court Doff made $11,400 profit when he sold the shares shortly after the merger was publicly announced.

But Doff's counsel, Paul Byrne SC, said all his client knew was that there was a proposed deal in negotiation.



©AAP 2004