A Melbourne individual will serve at least three years in prison after obtaining almost $2 million from investors via unlicensed financial advice.
Ashley Arandez of Hoppers Crossing, Victoria was sentenced to five years and six months in the County Court of Victoria and will be eligible for parole after serving three years and six months.
As well as this, he is automatically disqualified from managing corporations which will last until five years after his prison release.
He had pleaded guilty in Victoria County Court on 1 August to dishonest conduct in relation to a financial product or financial service, carrying on a financial services business without a licence, and recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime between September 2017 and April 2021.
This related to $1.9 million that Arandez obtained from investors while providing them with financial advice, while he was unlicensed and unauthorised to do so and had been so since June 2019.
During the relevant period, Arandez recommended clients invest funds from their self-managed superannuation fund (SMSFs) into investment products which he controlled, and promised fixed interest returns of 8-12 per cent per annum or up to 300 per cent payable on maturity after three years.
Arandez used some of the investor funds for his own personal use, including purchasing property in his own name and a motorhome, and the promised investments to clients were “mostly unfulfilled”.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said, “Arandez betrayed the trust of his clients, misappropriated investors’ funds and used the money for his own benefit.
“ASIC took this action to protect consumers from harm caused by dishonest and unlicensed conduct. The Court’s sentence reflects the seriousness of Arandez’s misconduct and sends a strong signal to deter others from similar conduct.”
The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation and referral by ASIC.