Richard Evans (also known as Richard Evertz), the former chief executive officer of collapsed ASX-listed technology company Big Un Limited (Big Un), has today been convicted and sentenced in the District Court of New South Wales for communicating inside information to another person.

Mr Evans was sentenced to one year and nine months’ imprisonment, to be served by way of an Intensive Correction Order (ICO), with 400 hours of community service.

As a consequence of his conviction, he is automatically disqualified from managing corporations for five years.

On 10 April 2026, Mr Evans pleaded guilty to sharing sensitive inside information about a funding arrangement and customer onboarding with a shareholder in January 2017, when he ought reasonably to have known the shareholder would be likely to trade Big Un shares and options (26-069MR).

The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following a referral from ASIC.

Background

Big Un was one of the most high-profile tech sector collapses in 2018. It was one of the top performing shares listed on the ASX in 2017, before its shares were suspended from trading in February 2018 following the release of information about its funding arrangement with First Class Capital. Big Un was placed into voluntary administration and was delisted from the ASX in August 2018. It is now in liquidation.

Mr Evans first appeared via his lawyer in the Downing Centre Local Court on 14 February 2023 charged with communicating inside information to another person (23-025MR).

ASIC has previously taken action against four additional people associated with Big Un:

• Andrew Corner, the former Big Un chief financial officer, was charged with insider trading in 2023, but the charges were discontinued by the CDPP after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict following a five-week trial ending 30 March 2026 (26-108MR).
• Graham Rothesay Swan, the auditor of Big Un, was convicted for failing to conduct the 2017 audit of Big Un in compliance with auditing standards (22-198MR).
• Jakin Leong Loke had his auditor registration suspended for 12 months by the Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board due to his involvement in the 2017 audit of Big Un (22-049MR).
• Michael Ming Jinn Ho, a former investment analyst, was sentenced to three years imprisonment to be served by an intensive correction order. Mr Ho was convicted on five counts of insider trading and one count of communicating inside information about Big Un between 2016 and 2018 (20-209MR).

Communicating inside information is an offence under section 1043A(2) of the Corporations Act 2001.

At the time of the offending, the maximum penalty was 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 4,500 penalty units, or, if the Court could determine the total value of the benefits that had been obtained by one or more persons and were reasonably attributable to the commission of the offence, three times that total value.

The maximum penalty increased in March 2019 to 15 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 4,500 penalty units.

Strengthening investigation and prosecution of insider trading conduct is one of ASIC’s 2026 enforcement priorities. ASIC has established a dedicated insider trading team to swiftly progress insider trading investigations and increase the number of criminal briefs referred to the CDPP.