Sonray director jailed following $46 million collapse 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has issued a press release informing the investors that former sole director of Sonray Capital Markets Pty Ltd (Sonray), Mr Russell Andrew Johnson, has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail.

Today’s sentence, handed down in the Victorian Supreme Court, comes as a result of ASIC’s investigation into the company, which collapsed in 2010 owing more than $46 million. Subsequently, Mr Johnson was charged with multiple offences, including false accounting, theft and deception and conspiracy to steal.

Mr Johnson is the second person to be jailed following the collapse of Sonray. In October 2011, former CEO, Mr Scott Kenneth Murray, was sentenced to five years jail with a non-parole period of two years and six months for 10 charges brought by ASIC.

Mr Johnson will serve a minimum of three-and-a-half years before he is eligible for parole.

In sentencing Mr Johnson, Justice Macaulay said that the conduct engaged in was a serious example of the crimes charged, and that they had been committed with ‘a sophisticated degree of orchestration and planning’.

Chairman Greg Medcraft said, ‘The collapse of Sonray, which held millions of dollars in funds for several thousand clients, was in part due to the complete disregard of the law by senior members of the company.

‘Today’s sentence reinforces ASIC’s commitment to ensuring that company officers act at all times in the interests of a company. Where they fail to do so, the consequences will be significant.’

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Source: ASIC

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