Former Director and CEO of Bananacoast Community Credit Union Limited (BCU), Lyndon Allen Kingston, has been sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment after being found guilty of four dishonesty offences.
Following a four-week trial in the Brisbane District Court, on 12 November 2024 a jury found Mr Kingston guilty of the following offences which occurred between December 2015 and August 2017:
dishonestly using his position to gain advantage for himself by unlawfully receiving payments from two BCU contractors, which were made to Mr Kingston without the approval or knowledge of the BCU board (counts one and two), and
providing false and misleading information to the auditor of BCU to conceal the payments (counts five and six).
On 10 December 2024, Mr Kingston was sentenced to nine months imprisonment for count one, 18 months’ imprisonment for count two, and six-months imprisonment for each of counts five and six to be served concurrently.
The court ordered that Mr Kingston be released after serving six months imprisonment upon giving security, by recognisance, in the sum of $1,000, conditioned that he be of good behaviour for the remainder of his sentence (12 months).
The jury were unable to reach a unanimous verdict concerning two further counts with which Mr Kingston was charged (counts three and four), and those counts were discontinued by the CDPP at the sentencing hearing.
At the time the offences were committed, Mr Kingston was the CEO and a Director of BCU. Previously, Mr Kingston had held professional roles in audit, regulation and as a banking executive.
ASIC chair, Joe Longo said, ‘As a director and CEO, Mr Kingston betrayed his position by dishonestly using his role to gain an advantage for himself, then attempting to conceal his wrongdoing. ASIC is committed to investigating dishonest conduct by directors and prosecuting such cases.’
In sentencing Mr Kingston, Judge Heaton KC said, ‘You were in a position of trust which you knew, and you exploited’ and ‘… [you] denied the board the opportunity to ensure good governance, transparency and integrity…’
The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) following an ASIC investigation.
ASIC acknowledges the assistance of APRA in this matter.