Judge King said in his judgment, factored in utility and the facilitation of justice, the so-called Ellis Discount for confessing to an act that would have otherwise gone undiscovered, and for both previous and future assistance with regard to investigations relating to at least one other person.
The assistance provided by Ho “could not have been more complete” and was “of very high value to ASIC”.
He said in the absence of the evidence supplied by Ho there would have been little chance that other parties being prosecuted for any other offence other than those that related to disclosures made to the ASX that Big Un was “treating conditional contracts as final contracts, the result of which it received finance, inflating its income.”
"At the end of the day the Big Un empire collapsed because it appears it fraudulently represented its contracts in order to enhance its market value," Judge King said.
Judge King said he was of the view that Mr Evertz met with Ho "because he potentially saw [him] as someone who might have some direct or indirect" influence on the market for Big Un options or shares."That the offender was foolishly taken in, is not a matter in his favour but takes in some extent he was duped from the outset," Judge King said.
ASIC said its investigation into Big Un, its officers and executives continued.
BIG Price at posting:
$2.22 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
