Former South Australian insurance broker Craig John Horsell has been ordered to serve a previously suspended three-year prison sentence after breaching the conditions of his release.
The District Court of South Australia revoked a Recognisance Release Order imposed following Horsell’s 2013 conviction for dishonestly using his position under the Corporations Act 2001, ASIC said.
In a statement issued this week, ASIC said the court found Horsell had breached a condition requiring him to be of good behaviour after committing a state deception offence against a bank between May 2015 and December 2018, resulting in the activation of the previously suspended prison sentence.
The court also sentenced Horsell to two years, eight months and 10 days’ imprisonment for the state deception offence, with a non-parole period of one year and seven months commencing on 1 July 2027.
Part of that sentence will be served cumulatively, bringing Horsell’s total effective sentence to three years, eight months and 10 days.
This latest outcome marks the end of a very sorry and long-running chapter…
The suspended sentence relates to Horsell’s 2013 guilty plea to three charges of dishonestly using his position as an employee and director of a South Australian insurance brokerage businesses.
According to ASIC, Horsell pleaded guilty in 2013 to diverting 89 client insurance premium payments totalling about $414,000 into his personal bank account.
See: ASIC Bans Former Insurance Company Director
To conceal the conduct, he falsified bank statements and cancelled some clients’ insurance policies, leaving them without cover. ASIC said the affected policies were subsequently replaced or reinstated and client losses were repaid.
The regulator permanently banned Horsell from providing financial services in January 2012 following its investigation into his conduct.
ASIC Chair Sarah Court said: “Mr Horsell breached the condition of his release that he be of good behaviour, and the original sentence has now been activated.
“This latest outcome marks the end of a very sorry and long-running chapter for the clients who placed their trust in Mr Horsell many years ago.”
