OPES Prime directors Laurie Emini and Anthony Blumberg have pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
Dressed in dark suits, the two men sat impassively in the dock this morning as prosecutor Greg Lyon, SC, led judge David Beach through the rise and fall of the broker and stock lender, which collapsed in 2008 owing clients more than $680 million.
Emini pleaded guilty to two counts of using his position as a company director to obtain an advantage and one charge of recklessly signing documents while a company director.
Blumberg pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly using his position as a company director to obtain an advantage.
Dr Lyon said stock from the account of mining industry figure Norm Seckold was shuffled around within the company to "prop up" the accounts of prominent Sydney criminal lawyer Chris Murphy.
It was the discovery of a $116 million hole in Mr Murphy's accounts that prompted the collapse of Opes Prime in March 2008.