Former South Australian insurance broker and company director Craig John Horsell has been ordered to serve a previously suspended three-year prison sentence imposed following an ASIC investigation more than a decade ago, after breaching the conditions of his release by committing a further criminal offence.

On 9 July 2026, the District Court of South Australia revoked a Recognizance Release Order (Release Order) imposed on Mr Horsell following his 2013 conviction for dishonestly using his position contrary to the Corporations Act 2001.

The Court found Mr Horsell had breached the requirement that he be of good behaviour by committing a state deception offence against a bank between May 2015 and December 2018.

As a result, the Court activated the previously suspended three-year sentence of imprisonment.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court said, 'Mr Horsell breached the condition of his release that he be of good behaviour, and the original sentence has now been activated.

‘This latest outcome marks the end of a very sorry and long-running chapter for the clients who placed their trust in Mr Horsell many years ago,’ the Chair said.

The Court sentenced Mr Horsell to two years, eight months and 10 days’ imprisonment for the state deception offence, imposing a non-parole period of one year and seven months commencing 1 July 2027, with part of the sentence to be served cumulatively.

Mr Horsell’s total effective sentence is three years, eight months and 10 days’ imprisonment.

In sentencing Mr Horsell, Judge Press said ‘the recognizance release order did not deter you and it also suggests your deception of the bank was not a momentary lapse of judgment in a moment of weakness. It tends to reveal a willingness on your part to ignore responsibilities when they are inconvenient for you.’

His Honour said, ‘it is also, regrettably, consistent with your actions when you offended in 2007 ... when you showed a willingness to disregard the financial wellbeing of others if it suited your purposes.’

His Honour considered ‘whether the nature of the breach is different in character from the original offending. It is clearly not.’

‘It is necessary to have regard to the need to deter others on recognizance release orders from disregarding their obligations under such orders. I have had regard to the time that has passed since your offending, however I do not consider that is of significant weight,’ His Honour said.

The matter in 2013 was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation by ASIC.

Background

In 2013, Mr Horsell pleaded guilty in the Adelaide District Court to three charges of dishonestly using his position as an employee and director of insurance brokerage businesses, contrary to the Corporations Act 2001.

Between September 2007 and May 2010, Mr Horsell diverted 89 client insurance premium payments totalling approximately $414,000 into his personal bank account.

To conceal the conduct, Mr Horsell falsified bank statements and cancelled some clients' insurance policies, leaving some clients temporarily without insurance cover.

Although the affected policies were ultimately replaced or reinstated and losses were repaid, the sentencing judge described the conduct as a ‘significant breach of trust’.

When sentencing Mr Horsell in 2013, the Court emphasised the importance of deterrence, stating that ‘it is necessary to demonstrate to others who may be minded to offend in like manner that such crimes are regarded seriously’.

Mr Horsell was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fined $75,000. However, having regard to factors including his early guilty plea, contrition, restitution and personal circumstances, the Court ordered his immediate release on a Release Order requiring him to be of good behaviour for three years and enter into a security of $20,000.

ASIC permanently banned Mr Horsell from providing financial services in January 2012 following an ASIC investigation into his conduct while employed by, and acting as a director of, South Australian insurance businesses (12-10AD ASIC permanently bans former SA director).