The Federal Court in Melbourne has ordered that the assets of four individuals and their 16 associated companies be frozen due to concerns about the possible operation of a ponzi-style scheme.
ASIC obtained interim orders to freeze $14.6 million of assets from Peter van de Steeg, Jonathan Ezzy and Peter Berlowitz of Victoria and Scott Walker of Western Australia.
ASIC said the relevant companies associated with the four individuals were Contango Investments, Meloka, Teronte, Korlea, Namrepus, DIX-Walker, Arnah, Reeva Investments and Soteria Holdings.
The alleged ponzi scheme was run between 2006 and 2009 and may affect more than 100 investors, mainly from Victoria.
The $14.6 million raised was purportedly for the purposes of investing in property and foreign exchange trading.
ASIC investigations raised concerns that the individuals may have been involved in conducting a financial services business without the necessary Australian Financial Services Licence.
The corporate watchdog also had concerns that investors might have been misled about the nature of the investments.
The court will consider the matter further on 30 April 2010.
