insider trading conviction - bateson, page-2

From the Asic website.
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Former director of WHL Energy Ltd (WHL), Dr Jeffery James Bateson, has pleaded guilty to one charge of insider trading following an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation.

Dr Bateson of Leura, New South Wales, appeared at Sydney?s Downing Centre Local Court earlier this week and entered a plea of guilty after being charged by ASIC with contravening section 1043A of the Corporations Act 2001.

ASIC alleges that between 11 and 16 May 2008, Dr Bateson acquired 550,000 shares in WHL for the benefit of his superannuation fund while in possession of inside information. This information related to a joint venture agreement proposal that WHL had not, at the relevant time, publicly announced. Dr Bateson was a director of WHL (then known as Wind Hydrogen Ltd) at the time.

Dr Bateson was committed to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for sentence with the arraignment likely to take place on 5 November 2010.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years? imprisonment, a $220,000 fine, or both.

The matter was referred to ASIC by the Australian Securities Exchange and is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions