Mr John Eugene Gay, who was chairman of Gunns from 2002 to 2010, has been convicted for insider trading. On 2 and 4 December 2009, while in possession of inside information relating to the financial performance of Gunns, Mr Gay placed orders to sell more than 3.4 million Gunns shares. This trading was prior to the release of Gunns’ half year results on 22 February 2010. Following this release, the Gunns share price fell substantially. Mr Gay was convicted on the basis that he ought to have known the information was inside information, not that he knew.

Mr Gay was fined $50,000 and is automatically disqualified from managing corporations for five years.