Justice Clifton Hoeben

A fraudster who robbed victims of $7.6 million by pretending to be a financial investor and barrister has had his jail sentence reduced from 16 years to 12, after a court of appeal heard his original sentence was “crushing” and did not reflect his guilty plea or lack of criminal record.

Former Leighton Holdings chief financial officer Peter Gregg has won his appeal of convictions last year over an alleged sham contract with a steel supplier, with an appeals court on Wednesday saying there had been a “substantial miscarriage of justice”.