Graeme Miller: Financial adviser faces jail, victims in tears
Nine high profile victims have told of their devastation after learning a combined $1.8m of their retirement fund had in fact been spent by a man they trusted with their nest egg.
Inner West
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A raft of people including an NRL identity and an OBE recipient told of how they had their lives and financial futures left in ruins by a man who instead spent the money on himself.
The devastation financial adviser Greame Walter Miller, 60, left in his wake after defrauding his clients was told through tears as victims outlined their pain in the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday.
In total, he misappropriated $1.8 million of their Superannuation that he went on to spend on himself and family members, the court was told.
One described their biggest mistake in life as “meeting Graeme Miller” and another called his actions “callous”.
Others told of how they now suffered from depression, anxiety and high blood pressure after learning they would leave virtually nothing to their families in their wills.
One said a family member was no longer speaking to them after they had referred them to Miller.
“Our daughter who lives in London married in June 2019 and we had borrow money from her and her husband to attend,” one victim told the court.
“It was hard to not contribute to the wedding being the family of the bride, this made me feel angry, diminished and embarrassed.”
Miller has pleaded guilty to six charges related to defrauding his clients, whose names have been legally suppressed.
Miller’s legal team did not oppose the suppression order because he “doesn’t want to prolong the suffering” of his victims, defence barrister Peter Lange told the court.
Mr Lange later added that Miller accepts responsibility for his actions but had suffered a loss in the family at the time of the offending
“He worked industrially for his clients up until what happened to (his family member),” he said.
“He was a man of prior good character and has a good chance of rehabilitation.”
The court was told Miller had repaid small amounts to some victims by taking from others in what Judge Gregory Woods described as a “ponzi” system.
The disgraced Northern Rivers based financial adviser was last year banned from providing financial advice for 25 years after his company CFS Private Wealth was wound up in the Federal Court after an investigation by the Australian Investments and Securities Commission.
The $1.8 million was mostly used for personal expenses, the court heard.
The victims are seeking a reparations order to recoup the money they lost through Miller.
He will return to the District Court at a later date to be sentenced.
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