A former financial adviser has been sentenced to five years and three months in jail after falling for a Nigerian investment scam and taking his clients down with him.

Robert Andrew Street had pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to five charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception between September 2001 and August 2002.

Clients gave him a total of $1,039,910 to fund “risk free” investments with good short-term returns. What they didn’t know was that the money was funnelled to the principals of a Nigerian-sourced scam in which someone claiming to represent a government committee offered to transfer $US65 million to him on payment of certain upfront fees.

Acting Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Chairman Jeremy Cooper says the jail sentence should be a warning to other financial advisers about their duties and responsibilities. He didn’t mention the fact that Nigerian letter scams have been around for many years and wouldn’t normally be expected to dupe a 13-year-old out of his pocket money.

Mr Street fell for it, however. He transferred most of the clients’ funds to various overseas destinations and used $10,000 to buy mobile phones, which he arranged to be delivered to a Nigerian address.

His sentence has a non-parole period of four years and he has been permanently barred from working in the financial services industry.

Mr Cooper says ASIC “will continue to pursue those who undermine the integrity of the financial services industry and abuse the trust of their clients”.