More than 50 Australian self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) are among the victims of organised investment fraud against 2600 Australian investors, with total investor losses around $113 million, the chief of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) has said.
ACC chief executive John Lawler provided details of the losses to members of last week’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into the failings of Trio and related parties.
Tthe multi-million-dollar losses were believed to be “conservative”, with the 2600 individuals said to include members of 800 companies and 51 SMSFs, Lawler said.
He said Australia was viewed as an attractive market for organised crime for a number of reasons: the country’s prosperity and “comparative resilience” to the global financial crisis.
“It is likely that Australian investors will continue to be targeted by offshore investment fraud,” he said.
In December 2009, fund manager Trio Capital collapsed with investor losses of more than $100 million.
Trio was the trustee of four superannuation funds – the Astarra Superannuation Plan, Astarra Personal Pension Plan, My Retirement Plan and Employers Federation of NSW Superannuation Plan – and one pooled superannuation trust.
The company invested some assets of the funds into a managed investment scheme, the Astarra Strategic Fund, with most of its assets directed into offshore funds located in the Caribbean.
Lawler said while the ACC had not undertaken any specific investigations into the activities of Trio, nor the circumstances surrounding the company’s collapse, it had “undertaken significant work on the issue of fraud and in particular international fraud”.
“The ACC is currently leading a national multi-agency taskforce called taskforce Galee. That particular taskforce is investigating serious and organised investment fraud,” he said.
“Work undertaken by the taskforce, which I must say is still ongoing . has confirmed to date losses of approximately $113 million relating to 2600 individuals, including approximately 800 companies and 51 self-managed superannuation funds.
“Our assessment of losses and known victims is considered to be conservative.”
The taskforce and its joint management group were developing a range of initiatives to harden the Australian environment against investment fraud, he said.
“Such prevention initiatives – which are being taken by a combined representation of agencies of 19 agencies at both the Commonwealth and state level – are working on initiatives that may include the utilisation of early warning mechanisms, closer collaboration and public alerts informing prospective investors,” he said.
