Former corporate adviser Cameron Kerr Waugh has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment from 25 March, with release after nine months, for insider trading offences, contrary to s1043A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001, in relation to his trading in Genesis Minerals shares in September 2021.
Waugh was sentenced at the Supreme Court of Western Australia after he pleaded guilty to acquiring 747,626 shares in Genesis between 14–21 September 2021. The share acquisition came after Waugh became aware of a funding proposal that included a multi-million-dollar Genesis share placement and a restructure of the Genesis board that would see experienced mining executives, Raleigh Finlayson and Neville Power, join the board.
According to an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC statement) on Wednesday, Waugh came into possession of the information through his role at Omnia Company where he received email correspondence of the proposal and a draft ASX announcement for Genesis outlining the funding package and Finlayson and Power’s invitations to join the Genesis board.
On 22 September 2021, this information became public when Genesis released an ASX announcement, titled, “Raleigh Finlayson to Cornerstone Strategic Funding Package”, which subsequently saw the Genesis share price rise 187 per cent.
Between 1 and 19 November 2021, Waugh sold the 747,626 Genesis shares, realising a profit of $57,256.44.
As a result of his conviction, Waugh is automatically disqualified from managing corporations for five years.
