Market manipulation of PMR shares lands prison sentence for ex-director of Hudson Resources
Benjamin Amzalak has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment to be served by way of intensive correction order.
Benjamin Amzalak, formerly a director of Hudson Resources Limited and Raffles Capital Limited and ex-Investor Relationship Officer of PMR and Sovereign Gold Company Limited, has been sentenced for market manipulation following an investigation by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC commenced an investigation into trading in the shares of Precious Metal Resources Limited (PMR), now known as Frontier Capital Group Limited, and associated companies after detection by the regulator’s surveillance system.
Mr Amzalak, of Bondi, NSW, has been sentenced in the District Court of New South Wales to two years of imprisonment to be served by way of intensive correction order, which includes a condition that he perform 300 hours of community service.
He has been sentenced for taking part in transactions that had or were likely to have the effect of creating an artificial price for trading in shares of PMR on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
More specifically, between June 12, 2013 and August 2, 2013, Mr Amzalak used trading accounts in the name of Hudson Corporate Limited and Sing Capital Pty Limited to complete either buy or sell transactions in PMR shares on eight separate occasions for the sole or dominant purpose of setting an artificial price for the shares of PMR.
In sentencing, his Honour, Acting Judge Madgwick, moted that these types of offences undermine the public’s confidence in the integrity of the market and that investors are entitled to have a fair chance to trade on honest market information.
