Financial planner Gavin Fineff: $3.5m ripped from clients ‘but I can’t pay them back’

A financial planner who lost more than $3.5 million dollars worth of his clients’ money to gambling has told a court he doesn’t know how he will pay them back.

A financial planner who lost more than $3.5 million dollars worth of his clients’ money to gambling has told a court he doesn’t know how he will pay them back – and hopes his advocacy work can serve as “amends” to the victims.

Gavin Fineff was on Friday warned he was going to spend “quite some time” in jail, after he approached 13 clients he’d formed close personal relationships with, offered them entry into a good invest deal, then used the funds to gamble on betting apps.

After pleading guilty to 12 counts of honestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, he faced a sentencing hearing on Friday, where the court heard he had become a “crusader” for gambling reform, and has been working with politicians to make betting companies liable if a gambler uses stolen money to place a bet.

“I feel very strongly about awareness, I know it’s happening today and I know it’ll happen tomorrow,” he said.

Asked by the Crown prosecutor whether he had any intention of reimbursing his clients, Fineff said he didn’t know if he had the “capacity” to do that.

Former financial adviser Gavin Fineff. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“My amends and intention for amends are largely societal (focusing) on gambling addiction education,” he said.

“My objective has never shifted from trying to recover money from the gambling companies.”

Fineff cried through most of his time in the witness box, telling the court that when he gambled his client’s money between 2016 and 2020, he was just trying to “fix” the situation and recoup the losses.

It was only when he requested a gambling transactions and saw he’d lost $3.1 million on just one app.

“How am I going to fix that,” he told the court.

“There was no way to justify it … I stopped because I realised I couldn’t fix it.”

He told the court he was “disgusted” in his crimes, and now understood the damage he had caused to people like Philip Heggie – who lost more than $230,000 to what he thought was his friend.

Speaking to the Saturday Telegraph outside court, Mr Heggie said he was unaware his money had been gambled until Fineff sent an email dump to the people he ripped off – telling them he was sorry.

When Mr Heggie received the email – his life fell apart – he’d lost half his super, the money that was to set he and his wife up for the future.

“When my wife found out, she was devastated,” Mr Heggie said.

Philip Heggie lost more than $230,000 to what he thought was his friend.

“That was the money we were going to live on. My wife and I separated because of it. We sold the family home. I don’t see her anymore at all, she won’t see me. I very rarely see my kids.”

Mr Heggie was forced to move from Sydney, no longer able to afford to live here, saying Fineff destroyed his life, and impacted him physically, mentally and emotionally.

“I didn’t and still don’t sleep at night. I’m regularly up for three or four hours a night,” he said.

“I lost huge amounts of weight. I wasn’t eating.”

Mr Heggie told the Telegraph Fineff’s promise of reimbursement through “advocacy” was unacceptable for his victims – one of which lost her housing as a result of his scheme.

“This (Fineff’s offending) was systemic, this was planned, this was formulised,” he said.

“He knew exactly what conversation to have with the victims and how he would say it.”

Mr Heggie had a long career in business management and isn’t the face commonly associated with victims of scams or fraud. While Fineff did scam elderly people, he exploited friendships and trusting relationships.

“Never would I imagine that baby-faced Gavin, this mild-mannered guy would do this,” he said.

“But he needs to be held fully accountable. He is not the victim like he makes out to be.”

Fineff was arrested on May 7, 2021, after Sentinel Wealth fired him and called in forensic accountants to figure out the extent of the fraud.

He is in custody on remand and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.