Ex-Apogee adviser pleads guilty

Apogee/financial-adviser/ASIC/guilty/

21 April 2021
| By Jassmyn |
image
image
expand image

Former Apogee Financial Planning authorised representative, Ahmed Saad, has pleaded guilty to two counts of deception in relation to operating a scheme that provided illegal early access to superannuation for clients.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Saad pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception.

The scheme involved Saad submitting applications for one-off advice fees to Nulis Nominees (Australia), as trustee of the MLC Super Fund, for financial services he claimed he provided to clients. However, Saad did not provide any services but instead paid the funds back to clients, facilitating illegal early release of their super entitlements.

ASIC said between 11 November, 2016, and 13 October, 2017, Saad obtained $1,531,925 from Nulis on behalf of 168 clients, and between 11 August, 2017, and 11 October, 2017, Saad attempted to obtain a further $92,400 on behalf of 10 clients.

Each offence carried a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment.

The matter has been adjourned until 25 October, 2021, for a plea hearing before the County Court.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months 3 weeks ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months 3 weeks ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

4 months 4 weeks ago

ASIC has suspended the Australian Financial Services Licence of a Melbourne-based financial advice firm....

1 week 5 days ago

The corporate regulator has issued infringement notices to three AFSLs whose financial advisers provided personal advice to a retail client while unregistered....

2 weeks 3 days ago

ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test....

3 weeks 1 day ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND