After extensive investigations, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has taken legal action in two separate cases of financial misconduct.
The first case involves Joseph Cullia and Zoran Markovic, who have been charged in connection with an alleged self-managed super fund (SMSF) investment scam.
In the second case, Aryn Hala faces charges for providing unlicensed financial services through his cryptocurrency assets company.
In the first case, ASIC has charged two individuals, Joseph Cullia from Southbank and Zoran Markovic from Coburg, both residing in Melbourne.
The charges stem from their involvement in an SMSF scam that operated from November 2020 to July 2021.
The duo allegedly operated fraudulent websites that promised substantial investment returns, improperly using licenses from legitimate financial firms without authorization.
Joseph Cullia is facing serious charges, including two counts of conspiracy to defraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count each for possessing false documents and stolen identification.
The money laundering charges could result in sentences of up to 25 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Zoran Markovic has been charged with 13 counts related to aiding money laundering, possession of false documents, stolen identification, and equipment for creating false IDs, with a potential 12-month imprisonment on the charges.
In a separate case, ASIC has charged Aryn Hala from Redbank Plains, Queensland, for allegedly offering unlicensed financial services through his company, A One Multi Services Pty Ltd.
Hala purportedly promised investors annual returns of up to 20% if they invested their retirement savings into cryptocurrency assets through his company.
He now faces nine counts of operating an unlicensed financial services business, each carrying a maximum 5-year prison sentence. Unfortunately, court-appointed receivers have struggled to recover most of the investor assets.
ASIC had previously warned about the vulnerability of SMSFs to cryptocurrency scams, emphasizing that retail investors bear the ultimate responsibility when it comes to these funds.
All three individuals, Cullia, Markovic, and Hala, have been released on bail, and the criminal charges have been initiated as a result of ASIC’s investigations into potential misconduct concerning retirement savings.
ASIC continues to caution Australians about the importance of exercising caution when investing their retirement funds, and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is handling the prosecution of these cases.