Former Gunns boss faces profits chase

Former Gunns boss John Gay faces a renewed attempt to recover his profits from insider trading.

Gay will be hit with a proceeds-of-crime application in the Tasmanian Supreme Court next week.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is taking the action, which was revealed during Senate estimates hearings.

The former chairman of the collapsed timber company was fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to the crime in 2013, a sentence the Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft said disappointed "the whole country".

The DPP action comes after the Australian Federal Police decided not to pursue Gay.

Gay admitted trading about $3 million worth of Gunns shares with information not available to the market.

In court hearings, the prosecution estimated his windfall to be more than $800,000, a figure challenged by Gay's lawyers.

At the time, the Australian Shareholders Association said Gay's fine was too lenient.

Justice David Porter said the crime fell into a less-serious category because Gay had decided to sell the shares in ill health and before he had the price-sensitive information.

He had faced a maximum penalty of five years jail or a $220,000 fine.

In April, Gay had a ban on holding company directorships partially overturned so he could continue to manage his family businesses.

The DPP and Gay's spokeswoman have been contacted for comment.