Mr Kang Cun Zhuang, also known as Chee Hau Soh, Chee Qian Soo, Allan Soo and Jason Soo, of Hawthorn, Victoria, has been permanently banned from providing financial services to the public following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The permanent banning order was made after ASIC found that Mr Zhuang had previously been convicted of criminal offences involving fraud and dishonesty, under a former name of Allan Soo.
Between 19 April 2002 and 2 April 2004, Mr Zhuang acted as an insurance agent and authorised representative of American International Assurance Company (Australia) Limited (AIA) under the name of Jason Soo. Mr Zhuang failed to disclose his previous criminal convictions while acting as an agent and authorised representative of AIA.
In permanently banning Mr Zhuang from providing financial services to the public, ASIC found that Mr Zhuang’s serious and repeated misconduct was not consistent with the high standards of honesty and integrity required of persons working within the financial services industry.
ASIC’s Deputy Executive Director of Enforcement, Mr Allen Turton said the community had a right to expect that financial services advisers could be trusted.
‘As part of our role to uphold the integrity of the financial services industry, ASIC will not hesitate to remove people that clearly demonstrate an inability to act honestly and lawfully’, Mr Turton said.
Background
Mr Zhuang was convicted in 2001, under the name of Allan Soo, of a number of counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage, or property, by deception. The crimes were committed between 1996 and 2000, and largely involved making fraudulent credit card applications using the details of victims who subsequently incurred a loss. Mr Zhuang was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and was also ordered to pay $11,906 in compensation to the victims.
Mr Zhuang was also convicted of a number of counts of theft in 2001, again under the name of Allan Soo, and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment to be served by way of an intensive correction order.