Sigma general manager charged with insider trading (ASIC, 2020)

Judgment entered

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In October 2020 ASIC reported that Michael John Story, a Sigma Healthcare general manager, was charged with insider trading in Sigma shares. After first pleading not guilty he pleaded guilty to one count, and on 27 June 2022 the County Court of Victoria sentenced him to 14 months' imprisonment with release on recognisance and a A$30,000 fine.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

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Disgorgement

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Prejudgment interest

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Total relief

—

Alleged gain

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Penalty as published

A$30k

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars. This regulator states penalties in AUD. The figure is recorded as published and is not converted, so it does not appear in the USD totals or medians used elsewhere on this site.

What is alleged to have happened

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced the charges on October 30, 2020 as release 20-266MR.

ASIC alleges Story sold the shares while holding inside information about the status of negotiations to renew Sigma's wholesale supply agreement with Chemist Warehouse Group. Sigma announced on July 2, 2018 that the agreement would end on June 30, 2019, and its shares closed about 40% lower.

The release records no plea, finding or money.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

Outcome. ASIC's editor's notes on the original release record that Story was committed for trial in October 2021, pleaded not guilty, and on 21 June 2022 pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading. ASIC's sentencing release (22-157MR) says that on 27 June 2022 the court sentenced him to 14 months' imprisonment, released forthwith on a A$5,000 recognisance with a three-year good-behaviour condition, fined him A$30,000, and ordered a pecuniary penalty of A$70,179.37 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The court found he sold 250,000 Sigma shares while holding inside information about the supply contract negotiations.

What the sources do not show: the release describes a single count of the original two. The pecuniary penalty is not recorded in the penalty field because it is a confiscation order rather than a fine. This record covers the same sentencing as the separate record for release 22-157MR.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Insider trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2020-10-30 ASIC media release
2. 2022-06-27 Story sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment, released on recognisance, fined A$30,000 (ASIC 22-157MR)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• ASIC media release
• ASIC release 22-157MR (sentence)

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.