Former Big Un CEO Richard Evans pleads guilty in insider trading case
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The news: The former chief executive of collapsed ASX-listed technology company Big Un, Richard Evans, has pleaded guilty to one charge of communicating inside information in the Sydney District Court.
The numbers: Evans communicated 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 inside information concerned the number of customers who had been onboarded to purchase Big Un’s promotional ‘TV Show’ package at a cost of $12,000, together with a $20 million funding arrangement with ‘Finstro’, a product of Sydney-based financier First Class Capital, which allowed customers to make this purchase on deferred payment terms.
The context: The trial has been vacated with a sentencing hearing set down for 21 August 2026.
The matter is being prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions following a referral from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Big Un was one of the most high-profile tech sector collapses in 2018. It was one of the top performing shares listed on the ASX in 2017. In February 2018, Big Un’s shares were suspended from trading, after information about its funding arrangement with First Class Capital was released.
Big Un was placed into voluntary administration and delisted from the exchange in August 2018. It is now in liquidation.
The source: ASIC media release
