Today’s Australian Financial Review report on staff fraud (Staff fraud a growth business) has given me some much needed cheer on a Friday afternoon (I’m in the middle of an ASIC licence amendment – take my word for it, not much fun).
Former Clive Peeters employee Sonya Causer allegedly stole $20m from the company. You might not think that’s funny, especially if you’re a Clive Peeters shareholder.
But wait for it. She apparently used a substantial amount of the proceeds to buy shares in, you guessed it, Clive Peeters. The one company she knew was being defrauded was the one, out of a possible 2,000, that she chose to buy shares in!
Causer bought that many shares, says the Fin, that she ‘became the company’s 14th largest shareholder’. If only she’d been forced to lodge a substantial shareholder notice.