So Mark Bryers only got a slap on the hand. I can understand the outrage, but the offences he was charged with were relatively minor ones. That doesn’t mean Bryers is a saint. In fact the SFO are still looking into the collapse of Blue Chip, and there may be more pain to come for Bryers.  But the fact he received what seems like a light sentence probably isn’t the fault of the court. Only one of the charges before the court was punishable by jail.

Still, Bryer’s lawyer’s argument against any form of community service was a brave one:

Bryers had wanted his offending dealt with by way of fine only. His lawyer, Aaron Lloyd, referred to a letter from Bryers’ employer noting that the hassle of their employee having to return from his Sydney home to do community service in New Zealand might make it not worth employing him.

His employer is Northern Crest Ltd, previously named Blue Chip Financial Solutions, the sole remaining remnant of the Blue Chip group. It is now run by Australians with the assistance of Bryers, acting as a consultant.

It’s most likely that Bryers is still in charge, or at least highly influential, behind the scenes of Northern Crest, so he’s essentially employing himself. I think he can probably sort leave out with his boss.

His claim to own only the clothes on his back and a set of golf clubs is also looking shaky:

Bryers is paid up to $144,000 a year ($10,000 to $12,000 a month). That information is contained in a probation report examining Bryers’ ability to pay a fine.

The only positive in this story is that he’s living in Australia, not here. In fact, that’s a compelling reason to be done with the community service and just ban him from returning here. Because I may have found a path to achieving one of our nation’s economic goals.

If we deport all the finance and property company shysters, clowns and rogues to Australian (Bryers, Hotchin, Petricevic et al), and don’t allow them to return, we’ll have closed the income gap with Australia in no time.