A resident of the New Zealand tourist centre of Queenstown has been sentenced to 200 hours community work and three months community detention after pleading guilty to impersonating a registered financial adviser.

The charges were brought by the regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which said that between July 2013 and May 2015 Mr Patterson falsely held out he was authorised to provide financial services in relation to various insurance policies.

He also obstructed the FMA investigation by refusing to attend an interview without a reasonable excuse. He was convicted based on this charge and discharged due to his limited financial means.

Mr Patterson has previous convictions relating to insurance matters, and was sentenced to eight months’ jail in November 2006.

The FMA also issued a public warning to Jonathan Simon Antony Branton-Casey, who it says facilitated Mr Pattersons’ offending and failed to exercise the care, diligence and skill expected of a reasonable registered financial adviser.

Mr Branton-Casey voluntarily de-registered and co-operated with the FMA in its investigation.