Former investment manager sentenced for creating false documents for investors following ASIC investigation and CDPP prosecution

On 20 December 2024, Brett Trevillian was convicted and sentenced in the NSW District Court to three years’ imprisonment, to be served by way of an intensive correction order, following a plea of guilty to two charges of making a false document to obtain a financial advantage, contrary to s 253(b)(ii) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). 

The Offending

Mr Trevillian was an investment manager and the sole secretary and director of a company called Metal Alpha Pty Ltd (Metal Alpha). 

Mr Trevillian, through Metal Alpha, was contracted as the investment manager for a company called AlphaThorn Pty Ltd. AlphaThorn was controlled by Gabriel Yakob and offered investment products to private clients/investors (‘high net-worth individuals‘). Two such products AlphaThorn offered were the ‘Secured Service’ and the ‘Enhanced Service’. Both these products were based on Mr Trevillian’s purported trading strategy, which he called ‘The Gold Method’. 

In March 2019, Yakob and AlphaThorn instructed Mr Trevillian to retain an accountancy firm to verify the returns on investments that Mr Trevillian purportedly had been traded in the past using The Gold Method. The report was, ultimately, to be used as a form of advertisement for AlphaThorn, to show prospective investors the high return on investments that had been achieved in the past and induce future investment. Mr Trevillian knew the purpose of the reports was to provide the report to prospective future investors.

Mr Trevillian never went to an accountancy firm to obtain such a report. Instead, during the period 22 April 2019 to 2 October 2019, Mr Trevillian created four forged documents, each called a ‘Portfolio Performance Verification – Report of factual findings’ (PVR). He then provided the PVRs to AlphaThorn and claimed he received them from the accountancy practice, Bell Partners Advisors Auditors Pty Ltd (Bell Partners).

The forged PVRs falsely verified or claimed a history of successful investment returns and falsely claimed that trading had been conducted through a particular broking firm and that the reports had been produced by an external firm of accountants who had verified actual trading – including forging the signature of an accountant.

On 14 July 2020, Bell Partners learnt of the forgery and subsequently reported the matter to ASIC.

Following an ASIC investigation and referral to the CDPP, Mr Trevillian was charged with four offences contrary to section s 253(b)(ii) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), to which he entered early pleas of guilty at committal to two rolled up offences. The maximum penalty for each offence was imprisonment for 10 years.

Sentence

The sentence hearing was heard before Judge Neilson in the Downing Centre District Court on 23‑25 September 2024, with judgment handed down on 8 November and 20 December 2024. 

His Honour sentenced the offender to three years’ imprisonment to be served by way of an intensive correction order (ICO).

His Honour noted the offender’s good character, found him to have good prospects of rehabilitation and noted the onerousness of a custodial sentence. His Honour also applied a 25% discount for the early guilty pleas.

Relevant links

ASIC Media Release (11 November 2024) – Former investment manager Brett Trevillian sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for forging reports for investors