S Central boss sentenced to jail

The former boss of collapsed IT services company S Central, Peter Mavridis, has been sentenced to almost five years in jail after being found guilty of obtaining a $4.8 million line of credit from NAB by deceit.

Mavridis was last month found guilty on 33 charges brought against him by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

His sentence - for obtaining financial advantage by deception and false accounting - was handed down by a Victorian county court yesterday.

The former CEO was given four years and eight months in jail, with a non-parole period of three years.

Mavridis' conviction automatically bars him from managing any business for five years after he is released from jail.

The maximum penalty for obtaining financial advantage by deception, false accounting and dishonest use of a position as a director is ten years imprisonment.

ASIC commissioner John Price said the sentence sent a strong message to other heads of companies.

"ASIC will use all means necessary to take strong action against those considering fraud or encouraging employees to behave in this dishonest manner," he said in a statement.

The corporate regulator last April brought 33 charges against Mavridis for submitting duplicated and falsely inflated invoices to NAB to secure the $4.8 million line of credit, and falsifying documents to support false invoices.

Mavridis was ordered to stand trial in August. He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty in October.

S Central's former financial controller David Cologna was also convicted and sentenced to 12 months jail under a two-year suspended sentence in November 2013 for falsifying the company's books

S Central had provided IT services to customers across NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

It went in and out of liquidation in the 12 months to April 2010 before finally going under in December that year. It left total deficiencies of more than $7 million, and its staff and goodwill were later sold to integrator Brennan IT.