Financial adviser James Gibbs pleads guilty to stealing nearly $5 million from clients

A former Adelaide financial adviser faces a lengthy jail term after pleading guilty to stealing close to $5 million from clients.

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A former Adelaide financial adviser faces a lengthy jail term after pleading guilty to stealing close to $5 million from clients.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court last week, James Gibbs pleaded guilty to 28 dishonesty offences, committed when he was a financial planner and director of James Gibbs Investments.

Between 2009 and 2016, Gibbs stole approximately $4.88 million of funds he was managing for clients, many of whom had self-managed superannuation funds which Gibbs was able to access via client bank accounts.

He also created and used false documents between 2012 and 2016, including banking documents and member statements.

The offences were committed when Gibbs was a financial planner and director of James Gibbs Investments (JGI), which operated from Franklin St in the Adelaide CBD.

Gibbs was remanded on bail and will reappear in court on February 27, when he will be formally committed to the District Court for sentencing.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for each offence prior to May 2012, and 15 years’ imprisonment for each offence committed after that time.

The misconduct occurred while Gibbs and JGI were authorised representatives of Madison Financial Group.

ASIC commenced an investigation into Gibbs following a breach report issued by Madison.

During its investigation of Gibbs last year, ASIC cancelled the credit licence of Vontelle Pty Ltd — a mortgage broking company which Gibbs had been a director of from 2011 until 2016.

At the time, the corporate regulator stated that the company had not complied with its obligation to “maintain the competence to engage in credit activities” after failing to notify ASIC that Gibbs had ceased to be a key person for the licence.