Digraced former adviser escapes prison time

what the hell, i defauded the tax payers and got two years !! My fraud was $310K. Perhaps if Fairwork australia had investigated Susan, she might have been able to work for another 5 years selling Tombstones.

All the red tape in the world only frustrates the honest and leaves the dishonest to continue to do whatever they like with very little consequences.
Wouldn't it be more effective if the focus was on decreasing the regulation and increasing the consequences for those that act in a dishonest way? A two-year good behaviour bond of $1,000 is definitely not enough punishment for the disrepute she has brought to our profession.

In my property law studies, I was appalled at the number of solicitors and banks who did the wrong things by their clients. Financial institutions in particular have been known to turn a blind eye to various inaccuracies because they want to get the business. So based on that, do the insurance companies make it easy for people like this because they want the sale so badly they don't pay the necessary attention to what is going on.

Poor Susan its not her fault, maybe she was just trying to do the best for her clients who did'nt realise they needed more insurance !!

In this instance the culprit wasn't ripping off clients, she was defrauding the insurance companies of their commissions. Most of which they were able to recoup. That's probably why the court let her off with a light penalty. However this raises an interesting point. Does fiduciary interest extend to insurance product providers? The dictionary states as follows "from the Latin fiducia, meaning "trust," a person (or a business like a bank or stock brokerage) who has the power and obligation to act for another (often called the beneficiary) under circumstances which require total trust, good faith and honesty." So I guess the underwriters placed their trust in the adviser to do the right thing in delivering services and receiving commissions for the placement of business. I think this would therefore breach the fiduciary duty the agent had to the underwriter in providing their products for sale.

The community will never take the advisory community and its regulators seriously as long as people like this get away with a slap on the wrist. She should be named, shamed and sent away to do some hard time. It's a joke. Would I be a misogynist to suggest that her lenient treatment was influenced by her gender ? I wonder.

Interesting sentence. 19-22 mths prison served concurrently suspended based on $1000 two year good behaviour bond that has been financed by the fraudulent commissions that have not been recouped. Am I reading this correctly ?

There are so many loopholes to fiduciary duties that you can never expect 100% compliance. Unfortunately, this behaviour just highlights the general publics view of financial planners. How is that we never see any good news stories regarding planners?

his is possibly the dumbest crook I have heard off.. She is a danger to herself!

Well this is all Bill Shorten's fault. If he had introduced his form earlier, that we all have to sign that we'll act in our clients' best interests, then Ms Heathwood would not have acted in the way she did......would she?