A judge says an Auckland man, who has been jailed for two years for stealing over $1 million from investors, preyed on vulnerable members of the public.
Mark Whelan set up a company and persuaded people to invest in it, promising the funds would be used to trade in options in Australia.
Whelan never traded the funds and when the company ran out of money he tried to secure a $20 million loan with a US-based firm.
Judge Rob Romayne said the impact on the victims was considerable.
"This offending on the victims, it has been terrible for some, in fact for most. I have to denounce and deter this sort of criminal offending, which plays on vulnerable members of the public."
Whelan's two year sentence is on top of another sentence of four years and four months imprisonment, for previous offending.
