Oliver Curtis insider trading trial: Best friend dobbed ‘to cut a jail deal’
A CONVICTED insider trader is accused of dobbing in his best friend, PR queen Roxy Jacenko’s husband, so he could use him to get a softer sentence.
NSW
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A CONVICTED insider trader has been accused of dobbing in his best friend, the husband of public relations queen Roxy Jacenko, so he could use him as a “bargaining chip” to get a softer sentence.
The Supreme Court trial showdown between Ms Jacenko’s husband Oliver Curtis and his former friend and bent trader John Hartman turned personal yesterday when the defence team dragged Hartman’s brother into allegations of race fixing and tax evasion.
Hartman’s father, a renowned Sydney obstetrician, also rated a mention in relation to a tax-evasion plan that was never acted upon. Curtis has pleaded not guilty at his Supreme Court trial to one count of conspiring to commit insider trading with Hartman between May 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.
The Crown alleges the friends made $1.4 million in profit using Hartman’s insider information working as an equities trader for a big investment management fund, Orion Asset Management, to trade shares, with the pair spending the money on a jetsetting lifestyle in their early 20s.
Defence barrister Murugan Thangaraj SC grilled Hartman on what he negotiated with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after he was caught “red-handed” in 2009 using insider information to trade through a separate account from the one he allegedly used with Curtis.
“If you put someone else in you have a bargaining chip,” Mr Thangaraj put to him.
Hartman received a 10 per cent cut to his jail sentence for giving evidence against Curtis.
Earlier Mr Thangaraj presented an August 2008 email exchange between Hartman and his investment banker brother Edward where the pair discussed placing bets on horse races using insider information. Hartman admitted to discussing plans to place bets on race favourites that they had been told would lose.
Mr Thangaraj also cross-examined Hartman on an email to his brother in which they discussed loaning their father money for a business purpose and charging interest, which would allow him to claim a tax deduction, then paying him back the interest through a “back door”. “It was an idea that lasted a couple of minutes,” Hartman said.
He said he gave his father $100,000 from illegal trading but said, “my father at no time would have known where the money was coming from”.
“There is no suggestion whatever that your father knew anything about what you were doing,” Mr Thangaraj said. “Good,” Hartman replied.
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