Former Olympic rower and Victoria-based investment dealer Harold Backer has pleaded guilty to fraud and is set to spend 13 months in jail.
Backer disappeared in 2015, allegedly carrying a large amount of money from his clients, after telling his family that he was going on a bike ride.
In 2017, he turned himself in to the custody of Victoria Police, and mysteriously enough, it is still unknown where he went over the course of almost two years.
At the time, the 55-year-old was facing two charges of fraud over $5,000 and had pleaded not guilty on both counts.
According to several online reports, Backer changed his plea on Wednesday for one of the fraud charges.
The three-time Olympian has now been sentenced to 13 months in jail (with one month of credit for time served), three years of probation, and restitution of $161,900 to five of his victims.
