Eustace Senese, Yoav Ida and their private companies One Tech Media and Allianz Metro received the judgement from Justice Jennifer Davies of the Federal Court regarding penalties, disqualification orders and injunctions on Wednesday.
The judgement followed findings by Justice Davies in February that One Tech, Allianz Metro and both Mr Senese and Mr Ida had breached the Corporations Act through pressure sales of binary options to consumers.
One Tech, based in Seychelles and later in the Marshall Islands, had offered binary options to trading customers in Australia through websites in breach of the requirement to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and failed to issue the necessary product disclosure statements.
Australian company Allianz Metro, together with Mr Senese and Mr Ida, were also found to have breached the Corporations Act by providing paying agency services to One Tech Media without an AFSL.
Further, the men had failed to issue the requisite product disclosure statement for each binary option trade conducted, in contravention of the Corporations Act.
Justice Davies found OTML’s contravening conduct to be “systemic and deliberate, targeting and exploiting vulnerable people, causing them substantial long-term financial detriment through the loss of savings and superannuation used for binary options trading”, which losses were contributed to by both Mr Senese and Mr Ida.
The court indicated it would make orders that:
- One Tech Media be permanently restrained from carrying on a financial services business and pay a pecuniary penalty of $1.8 million;
- Allianz Metro be permanently restrained from carrying on a financial services business;
- Mr Senese be permanently disqualified from managing corporations and be permanently restrained from carrying on financial services businesses; and
- Mr Ida be disqualified from managing corporations for 15 years and restrained from carrying on financial services businesses for 15 years.
The penalties, disqualification orders and injunctions follow a judgement made by the Federal Court in February in ASIC’s liability proceedings against the two companies and men, as well as other individuals and entities, which sought declarations of multiple contraventions. ASIC succeeded.
