The Supreme Court of Western Australia has sentenced Chris Marco to 14 years imprisonment, with eligibility for parole after 12 years.
Mr Marco was sentenced today by the Honourable Justice Whitby after a jury found Mr Marco guilty on 4 September 2025 of 43 fraud offences relating to six investors totalling more than $34 million.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged that between July 2013 and October 2018, Mr Marco obtained over $36.5 million from nine investors with intent to defraud, by deceit or fraudulent means.
In July 2022, Mr Marco was initially charged with 50 counts of fraud pursuant to section 409(1)(a) of the Criminal Code (WA). The matter proceeded to trial on 43 counts of fraud listed on the indictment.
On 4 September 2025, a jury found Mr Marco guilty of 43 counts of fraud relating to six investors and a total amount of $34,332,453. Mr Marco’s former executive assistant, Linda Marissen, was acquitted of all charges of fraud.
The criminal charges followed earlier Federal Court proceedings taken by ASIC against Mr Marco and the company previously run by him, AMS Holdings (WA) Pty Ltd. In those proceedings, the Federal Court had, on 7 December 2020 ordered the winding up of the unregistered managed investment scheme operated by Mr Marco and AMS Holdings (WA) Pty Ltd. The court also ordered that Mr Marco be permanently restrained from carrying on a financial services business without an Australian Financial Services Licence or operating an unregistered managed investment scheme.
Mr Marco’s total effective sentence is 14 years imprisonment. He will be eligible for parole two years before the end of his sentence. Mr Marco will serve 12 years before being eligible for parole not before 2037. Mr Marco’s sentence was backdated to 4 September 2025 (the date he was remanded in custody following the jury’s guilty verdict).
