Lyndon Allen Kingston will serve time in prison for financial crimes. (Facebook: Anna Kingston)
In short:
Former credit union chief executive and banking watchdog senior manager Lyndon Allen Kingston has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for financial crimes committed six years ago.
A jury found him guilty of unlawfully pocketing payments from two credit union contractors, without knowledge of the board.
What's next?
The court ordered Kingston be released from prison after six months, pending good behaviour for the remaining 12 months of his sentence.
The former chief executive of a New South Wales credit union, which has since been the subject of a major merger, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Lyndon Allen Kingston was a director and chief executive of Bananacoast Community Credit Union Limited (BCU) when he committed financial criminal offences between December 2015 and August 2017.
He was charged after a year-long investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
On November 12, following a four-week trial, Kingston was found guilty at the Brisbane District Court of dishonestly using his position to gain advantage for himself by unlawfully receiving payments from two BCU contractors, made without the approval or knowledge of the board.
Mr Kingston won't be holidaying for some time while he serves punishment for his crimes. (Facebook: Anna Kingston)
He was also found guilty of providing false and misleading information to the auditor of BCU to conceal the payments.
Two further offences were withdrawn by prosecutors when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
This week Brisbane District Court Judge Carl Heaton sentenced Kingston to nine months' imprisonment for his first offence, 18 months' imprisonment for the second, and six months' imprisonment for each of two remaining offences, to be served concurrently.
The court ordered Kingston be released after six months, pending good behaviour for the 12 months remaining on his sentence.
ASIC says Lyndon Kingston betrayed his position as chief executive. (Facebook: Anna Kingston)
CEO 'betrayed his position'
ASIC investigated Kingston for more than a year, before the successful prosecution led by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
In a statement, ASIC chair Joe Longo was scathing of Kingston's actions.
"As a director and CEO, Mr Kingston betrayed his position," he said.
"He [was] dishonestly using his role to gain an advantage for himself, then attempting to conceal his wrongdoing.
"ASIC is committed to investigating dishonest conduct by directors and prosecuting such cases."
Merged bank distances itself
Kingston had been a senior manager at Australia Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), a role in which he supervised credit unions, before his recruitment to BCU in 2008.
Originally a NSW Mid North Coast credit union, BCU merged with West Australian-based P&N Bank in 2019.
In a statement a spokesperson for BCU Bank and P&N Bank said Kingston left the organisation prior to the merger.
"The legal matters between BCU and Mr Kingston were appropriately dealt with by BCU and concluded in February 2019," the spokesperson said.
"[This was] prior to our merger and as such, it is not appropriate to provide any comment."
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