The Australian Securities & Investments Commission announced that Richard Evans, former chief executive officer of collapsed ASX-listed technology company Big Un Limited, has pleaded guilty in the Sydney District Court to one charge of communicating inside information. The trial has been vacated and a sentencing hearing is set down for 21 August 2026. The guilty plea relates to Evans communicating inside information about Big Un to a shareholder around 10 January 2017, when he ought reasonably to have known the shareholder would be likely to trade Big Un shares and options. The information concerned customer onboarding for Big Un’s AUD 12,000 ‘TV Show’ promotional package and a AUD 20 million funding arrangement with ‘Finstro’, a product of Sydney-based financier First Class Capital, which enabled customers to purchase on deferred payment terms. The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an ASIC referral; ASIC also noted that since 2009, 46 people have been criminally convicted of insider trading following ASIC investigations. ASIC also referenced ongoing criminal proceedings against Big Un’s former chief financial officer Andrew Corner, where it alleges he procured two private companies he controlled to sell 1.7 million Big Un shares for more than AUD 5 million while in possession of inside information; after a trial concluding on 30 March 2026 ended with no unanimous verdict, the matter is listed for further mention on 20 April 2026.

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