Former GAIN Capital Australia employee faces 5 years jail for entering 13 orders manually on a customer account

Following an ASIC investigation, Mr Shun Yuen Ken Li (also known as Leo Lee), of Roseville Chase, New South Wales has pleaded guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court on two charges of dishonestly using his position as an employee.

Mr Li, 37, is accused of using his position as an employee of GAIN Capital Australia Pty Ltd (GAIN Capital) contrary to Section 184(2)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001.  The charges relate to orders placed by Mr Li to gain an advantage for two clients.

GAIN Capital offered clients the opportunity to trade share price index (SPI) contracts for difference (CFDs) at the ‘market-on-open’ price, i.e. a price corresponding with the price at which SPI matched during the opening auction at 9:50am.

ASIC alleges that:

• between 9 April 2015 and 19 June 2015, Mr Li used his position as an employee of GAIN Capital to manually enter 13 profitable Market-on-Open Orders in SPI CFDs on the account of another person, with the intention of gaining a financial advantage for that person, and
• between 26 May 2015 and 10 July 2015, Mr Li used his position as an employee of GAIN Capital to manually enter 38 profitable Market-on-Open Orders in SPI CFDs on the account of another person, with the intention of gaining a financial advantage for that person.

A pre-sentence report was ordered and the matter was adjourned to 14 February 2017 for sentence.

ASIC acknowledges GAIN Capital’s full cooperation and assistance in this matter.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting this matter.

Background

Each of the charges laid under s184(2)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001carries a maximum penalty of $340,000 or imprisonment for 5 years, or both.