Banker Oliver Curtis, the husband of PR maven Roxy Jacenko, has lost an appeal on his conviction for insider trading, meaning that he will continue to serve out his minimum 12-month prison sentence.
In June of this year, Curtis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit insider trading, in relation to a number of trades made with former best friend John Hartman, that netted the pair a profit of more than $1.4 million.
Hartman, an equities dealer at Orion Asset Management at the time of the trades, testified that the money was spent on lavish holidays to Las Vegas and Whistler, as well as Ducati motorcycles and Mini Coopers.
In the lead-up to the conviction, Justice Lucy McCallum noted that Curtis has been uncooperative with ASIC and had not embraced his responsibility for offending, showing “no contrition to any degree whatsoever.”
Appearing before the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, Curtis’ legal team argued that he had been wrongly convicted, saying that that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. The court dismissed the appeal, saying:
“The Crown here was only required to prove […] that at the time of making the agreement [Curtis] and Mr Hartman each believed that the Orion trading information the subject of the conspiracy would not be generally available and that, if it were generally available, a reasonable person would expect it to have a material effect on the price or value of the relevant securities.”
Hartman was jailed in 2010, for matters relating to separate illegal trades that made him close to $6 million, and he received a reduced sentence for a guilty plea, as well as agreeing to give evidence against former friend Curtis.
Curtis’ wife Roxy was not present at the appeal. The PR queen had previously told media that she is reluctant to put up a Christmas tree this year, after telling her two young children that their father would be home for the holiday.
She told Who Magazine:
“My mum said to me the other day ‘I think I’m going to get a Christmas tree.’ I said, ‘You can’t, because I told Pixie and Hunter their father would be home by Christmas. It was so far away then … Now here we are.”
Weeks after Curtis’ sentencing, Jacenko was diagnosed with breast cancer, and allowed a 60 Minutes crew to film the subsequent surgery when she had her lump removed.
Source: Australian Financial Review.
Photo: 9 News.
