Former Berndale Capital Securities Pty Ltd (Berndale) director Stavro D'Amore will serve 23 months in prison as part of a three-year and ten-month total effective sentence handed down by the Federal Court for multiple dishonesty offences committed between 2017 and 2018.
Mr D'Amore improperly transferred $681,496.98 in company funds, which he knew were primarily derived from retail client deposits. Former Berndale clients are owed more than $8.9 million following its collapse.
He also authorised the making of false and misleading statements in documents submitted to ASIC about overseas bank accounts containing Berndale funds.
Berndale's Australian financial services (AFS) licence required it to maintain a minimum level of net tangible assets and lodge audited financial reports. The relevant overseas funds and accounts either did not exist or were grossly inaccurate.
ASIC Chair Sarah Court said, 'Mr D'Amore seriously abused his position as director to enrich himself and he authorised false statements to ASIC to hide the true financial position of the company he had taken money from at the expense of Berndale investors.
'The sentence demonstrates the egregiousness of his misconduct.
'Conduct of this type puts retail investors at serious risk and undermines trust in Australia's financial system. ASIC will continue to hold to account those who engage in this sort of misconduct.'
When delivering the sentence, Justice Abraham said, 'Offences of this nature undermine the integrity of Australia's financial markets and system of corporate regulation and erode the confidence of participants in the commercial world.
'Victims of these types of crimes are not confined to those who directly suffered through loss of their funds, but extend to the investing public at large.'
Mr D'Amore was sentenced on 23 July 2026 and was taken into immediate custody.
The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following an investigation and referral from ASIC.
ASIC was previously unable to publish this media release due to an unrelated five-week trial involving Mr D'Amore in the County Court of Victoria, which was due to commence on 3 August 2026.
