A former financial advisor who worked for advisory WealthSure has been jailed after pleading guilty to charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission over the transfer of AUD$500,000 ($472,300) dollars out of clients' accounts without their knowledge.

A former financial advisor who worked for advisory firm WealthSure has been jailed after pleading guilty to charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission over the transfer of AUD500,000 ($472,300) dollars out of clients' accounts without their knowledge.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission said in a statement that Brian William Veitch, formerly of Minto, New South Wales, was sentenced to six years and two months imprisonment with four years non-parole after pleading guilty to 22 charges.

Veitch was an authorised representative of WealthSure Pty from 14 December 2005 to 23 February 2010.

During this time, Veitch admitted to and was found guilty of 21 counts of using false withdrawal requests for the fraudulent transfer of funds totalling approximately AUD500,000 from seven clients' accounts without their knowledge.

He was also found guilty on one count of providing a client with a false portfolio statement, causing the client to believe that AUD$300,000 was still in their account when, in fact, it was not.

“Mr Veitch's actions were planned and deliberate, demonstrating a complete disregard for the interests of his clients. The sentence shows that the court views this sort of misconduct by financial advisers very seriously,” said deputy chairman of ASIC Peter Kell.