The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) has secured an asset freezing order from the federal court against Ashley Arandez and four companies where he is a director.
The firms in question are:
- HLK Advisers, as trustee for The HLK Trust;
- NCAA Holdings, as trustee for The NCAA IP Trust;
- Mindenergetix, as trustees for The Mindenergetix Trust; and
- AWM Australia, as trustee for the AWM Australia Trust.
The watchdog is concerned the director and/or the companies have, allegedly:
- Carried out financial services business since July 2019 without a licence;
- Obtained A$2.5m (£1.4m, $1.7m, €1.6m) from Australian investors based on false and misleading statements including by suggesting that their funds would be invested in property and cryptocurrency; and
- Misused investors’ funds, at least in part, for personal benefit and to pay returns to other investors.
Asic sought the asset freezing orders to “preserve the funds available for people that might be harmed by Arandez’s actions, including individuals and entities who may have invested with Arandez, or paid Arandez for financial services”.
“Asic will continue to investigate and take action against unlicensed financial services businesses with a focus on misconduct involving cryptocurrency.”
The regulator urged anyone concerned they have received financial services from or have invested with either Arandez or any of the four companies to get in touch.
