A former Victorian banker who ran an insider trading scheme described as the worst to ever come before an Australian court has been jailed for seven years and three months.
Lukas James Kamay, 26, used market sensitive data provided before its official release by Christopher Russell Hill, 25, to make $7 million on the stock market.
He used some of the money to try to buy an apartment renovated on the television show The Block.
Kamay, of Clifton Hill, pleaded guilty to six charges of insider trading, one charge of money laundering and two charges of identity theft.
He must serve four years and six months before being eligible for parole.
Hill, from Belconnen in the ACT, was jailed for three years and three months, with a minimum of two years to be served, for providing embargoed Australian Bureau of Statistics data to Kamay.
However, he was unaware of the extent of Kamay's trading.
Kamay and Hill had agreed to use the ABS data to make about $200,000 which, after the proper taxes were paid, would result in a net profit of about $50,000 each.
After a series of trades that netted the pair about $195,000, including some deliberate losses to mimic a normal trade, Kamay opened additional accounts he hid from Hill.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said Kamay's earnings constituted the largest insider trading profit to come before an Australian court.
"Mr Hill had no idea you, Mr Kamay, had gone so far beyond the original $200,000 limit," she said.
Kamay made a net profit of $7 million over a series of 45 trades.
For his role in the scheme, Hill was paid about $20,000.
"Insider trading is a serious criminal offence because it can undermine the integrity of markets and diminish public confidence in the commercial world."
Justice Hollingworth said is was a form of cheating.
"Your motivation was personal greed, pure and simple," Justice Hollingworth told the pair.
In March 2014, Kamay withdrew $5 million to buy an Albert Park apartment that had been renovated on The Block.
He agreed to pay $2.375 million for the home, but was arrested before he could complete the purchase.
Justice Hollingworth said the payment of the deposit, which was the proceeds of crime, constituted the money laundering charge.
Kamay has now forfeited all his assets, including equity in some property that wasn't tainted by his offending.
Justice Hollingworth said she accepted the men were remorseful and had good prospects of rehabilitation.
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