ASIC has sought court intervention to secure more than $3 million worth of member funds from an online financial mentoring company.
Last Thursday, the corporate regulator said it had obtained interim orders by consent in the Queensland Supreme Court as part of its investigation into Investment Intelligence Corporation (Investment Intelligence) and its company director amid claims they are operating a financial services business without a licence.
The orders are over $3,092,799 held by St George Bank and $313,136 held by American Express Australia in the accounts of Investment Intelligence, ASIC said in a statement.
ASIC has also obtained a prohibition of departure order against the group's sole director Senen Pousa of Byron Bay in New South Wales.
Investment Intelligence sold financial mentoring memberships through an internet platform called ProphetMax, ASIC said.
The membership, believed to be more than 3,000 worldwide, involves a number of web-based modules that include general financial literacy, life coaching and foreign currency trading advice.
Investment Intelligence recommended that members engage in foreign currency trading through a broker called IB Capital registered, in New Zealand.
Members were then instructed by IB Capital to transfer their funds into an account with ING Bank in the Netherlands, ASIC said.
It is believed that members were told that these funds would then be used for foreign currency trading by a company in the United States called Global Forex Management, it said.
Global Forex Management is not registered with the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States to trade in foreign currencies, ASIC said.
Neither Investment Intelligence or Pousa hold an Australian financial services licence under the Corporations Act 2001.
ASIC's investigation is continuing in conjunction with authorities in the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
The matter will return to the Queensland Supreme Court for further hearing at a later date.
