[ad_1]
A failed financial advisor who scammed clients through a Ponzi scheme will not be forced to return the $ 5 million he stole.
The 81 victims of Barry Kloogh were defrauded of about $ 15.7 million in total.
He was sentenced in Dunedin District Court in July to eight years and 10 months in jail, with a minimum non-parole period of five years and four months, but later appealed.
In an appellate court decision published by Judge Rachel Dunningham on Friday, the reparation order was overturned.
READ MORE:
* Convicted con man Barry Kloogh appeals jail sentence for Ponzi scheme
* The Money Cookbook: How Barry Kloogh Lost Nearly $ 16 Million In A Ponzi Scheme
* Failed Financial Advisor Barry Kloogh Jailed For Nearly 9 Years For $ 16 Million Ponzi Scheme
Kloogh’s attorney, Sarah Saunderson-Warner, argued that there was no realistic prospect that her client would be able to reimburse that amount.
Hamish McNeilly / Stuff
Barry Kloogh stands in the Dunedin District Court dock for sentencing.
Dunningham said the order was inappropriate, given that Kloogh was going to spend more than five years in prison given the minimum prison term.
All parties agreed that it was highly unlikely that funds would be available in the future.
“In fact, I consider placing the order to create false hope in the many victims of Mr. Kloogh’s dishonesty,” Dunningham said.
Saunderson-Warner also argued that Kloogh’s sentence was excessive and that the sentencing judge had given him “insufficient” discounts.
Stuff
Barry Kloogh had a predilection for leasing late-model European cars.
He argued that his client should receive a sentence of six years and five months in jail, once more discounts are applied for his cooperation and a clean record.
However, the Crown argued that Kloogh showed a lack of understanding, which included unrealistic promises to return money to victims, restorative justice conferences almost
Dunningham rejected that.
It found that Kloogh’s sentences were within the correct range, compared to those of con artist Paul Hibbs, who stole $ 17.5 million and was sentenced to eight years in jail, and David Ross, who was incarcerated in 2013 for 10 years and 10 months. for his role in a $ 115 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 700 investors.
