Former Sydney comedian David Valvo sentenced after ASIC’s sticky tape signature allegations
A former financial adviser, comedian and Donald Trump impersonator - who was accused of using sticky tape to replicate his clients’ signatures - has been sentenced.
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A former financial adviser and comedian, who took $110,000 from his clients’ superannuation accounts, has been spared a potential 15-year prison sentence.
David Valvo, who was accused of using sticky tape to replicate his clients’ signatures, was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court last week, after pleading guilty to dishonest conduct in his business, Your Financial Freedom.
It comes almost two years after the corporate regulator, ASIC won court orders to freeze the assets of Mr Valvo and the assets of his business.
The court also enacted a travel ban, after ASIC warned there was a risk Mr Valvo, a celebrity impersonator whose subjects have included US President Donald Trump, would flee the country and dissipate his assets.
The ban expired last March and the asset freeze was varied in April to enable Mr Valvo to pay a $20,000 fine to the regulator.
An ASIC investigation found Mr Valvo completed and submitted forms for ad hoc (one-off) adviser fees for 12 clients, authorising withdrawals from their Wealthtrac super accounts.
The regulator stated Mr Valvo had created false client file notes allegedly detailing conversations in which they consented to the ad hoc fees.
But Mr Valvo’s clients had no knowledge of the fees, did not sign the forms and did not consent to the withdrawals from their accounts.
The clients were also charged ongoing monthly fees for Mr Valvo’s advice at the same time.
The offending occurred from July 2019 to January 2020, ASIC said.
The judge said Mr Valvo was “clearly in a position of trust and he broke the trust of the 12 victims for whom he was supposed to be providing financial advice and assistance”.
The Maltese born Sydney man was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended on the condition of good behaviour for five years.
Mr Valvo has also paid a $20,000 fine and reparation to the trustee of his clients’ Wealthtrac super fund, Oasis Fund Management, which had reimbursed their losses.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said the sentence demonstrated “the seriousness of the misconduct”.
“Instead of showing the honesty and integrity required of someone who works in the financial services sector, Mr Valvo’s actions betrayed the trust of his clients and caused them financial harm,” she said.
The regulator began investigating Mr Valvo and his company in 2022 after a tip-off from another firm which had bought his financial planning books.
ASIC investigator Jessica Seymour told the court client signatures were stuck onto various forms with sticky tape, including a form authorising Mr Valvo to charge a one-off fee.
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Originally published as Former Sydney comedian David Valvo sentenced after ASIC’s sticky tape signature allegations
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