The Melbourne Magistrates Court has convicted Kristian John Convery after he pleaded guilty to acting as a SMSF auditor while he was a disqualified person.
As a result, the former SMSF auditor was sentenced to a community corrections order and 60 hours of unpaid community work in a case prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The sentence follows a previous regulatory penalty that saw the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issue Convery with a permanent disqualification in May 2024.
Subsequent to that disqualification, Convery applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a stay and review of the decision. However, the AAT dismissed both those applications.
An ASIC investigation then revealed Convery continued to act as an SMSF auditor between June 2024 and January 2025 while disqualified. During that time, he provided SMSF audit services to four tax agents, completed audits and made a false document with the intention it be accepted as genuine by other parties or for obtaining a gain.
Charges related to Convery also included the provision of completed SMSF audit reports in another registered auditor’s name. In these circumstances, the other practitioner had neither participated in the services provided nor authorised another person to use their credentials.
Section 254 of the Crimes Act 1900 stipulates a person who uses a false document knowing it is false with the intention of inducing some other person to accept it as genuine, and because of it being accepted as genuine, obtains an advantage or influences the exercise of a public duty, is guilty of an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
“Convery was also charged for creating 47 false SMSF audit reports and a related letter for the purposes of obtaining a gain between July 2024 and January 2025,” ASIC said in a statement.
