Former high profile motivational speaker Christopher Philip Koch has been sentenced in the Melbourne County Court to 13 years and two months jail on charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Koch, of Point Cook, Victoria, was found guilty on 11 June 2010 on 15 counts of obtaining property by deception and seven counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception totalling AUD1,152,000.
Koch was also charged with one count of making an offer or invitation in a prescribed interest scheme totalling AUD1,742,000.
Between 1996 and 1999, Koch promoted a fictitious, international, high-yield investment programme where investors were told they would receive returns of between 50 and 150 per cent in periods as short as 90 days.
Koch received AUD1,742,000 from 11 victims. ASIC’s investigation revealed that he used most of these funds for his own purposes.
Koch is required to serve a minimum of ten years before release.
On 7 June 2001, ASIC executed a search warrant on Koch’s residence. In July 2001, Koch left Australia. After travelling through Asia, the UK and North and South America, Koch settled in Auckland, New Zealand, in early 2004 and established a business called the New Zealand Sales Institute. In December 2006, Koch was arrested by New Zealand Police and was subsequently extradited to Australia on 10 January 2007.
