The Australian Securities & Investments Commission announced that former Barnes Marketing Services Pty Ltd director Mark Barnes has been sentenced in the District Court of New South Wales to one year and 10 months’ imprisonment for dishonestly obtaining AUD 2,478,624 by deception. The sentence will be served under an Intensive Correction Order, including one year of home detention and 300 hours of community service. His conviction also automatically disqualifies him from managing companies for five years until 1 April 2031. From 28 May 2018 to about 20 December 2019, Barnes sold false invoices from Barnes Marketing Services to Handley Advisory Partners Pty Ltd, trading as FIFO Capital Metro NSW, which provides advance payments on purchased invoices. He generally repaid the amounts advanced around the required repayment date but kept submitting further false invoices on a rolling basis to maintain access to funds, leaving FIFO owed AUD 270,412. In sentencing, Deputy Chief Judge C O’Brien found the conduct was not impulsive and involved a degree of sophistication, including falsified invoices, emails and bank statements, and held that no sentence other than imprisonment was appropriate. Barnes was charged in December 2024 and pleaded guilty on 11 November 2025 to one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), with a further offence taken into account at sentencing. The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. ASIC began its investigation after receiving a funded report from liquidator Steven Gladman of Hall Chadwick, whose investigation was supported through the Assetless Administration Fund.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2026-05-05
Australian Securities & Investments Commission announces former NSW director sentenced to one year and 10 months over AUD 2.48 million invoice deception
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission reported that former Barnes Marketing Services Pty Ltd director Mark Barnes has been sentenced to one year and 10 months’ imprisonment, to be served under an Intensive Correction Order, for dishonestly obtaining AUD 2,478,624 by deception and is automatically disqualified from managing companies until 1 April 2031. Between May 2018 and December 2019, Barnes submitted rolling false invoices to Handley Advisory Partners Pty Ltd, trading as FIFO Capital Metro NSW, leaving an outstanding debt of AUD 270,412, with the court finding his conduct involved sophistication and that imprisonment was appropriate.