Former financial adviser charged with deception
Former financial adviser, Ahmed Saad, has been charged for his role in operating an illegal early superannuation release scheme.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged that while working as an authorised representative of Apogee Financial Planning, he operated an illegal scheme providing early access to superannuation funds for his clients.
The former adviser from Glenroy, Victoria, appeared in court on 24 February, 2021, and was charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception for another and a further charge of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception for another.
Between 11 November, 2016, and 13 October, 2017, Saad obtained $1,531,925 from Nulis Nominees as trustee for the MLC Super Fund on behalf of 168 clients.
Between 11 August, 2017, and 11 October, 2017, Saad attempted to obtain a further $92,400 on behalf of 10 of his clients.
Saad submitted applications for one-off advice fees to Nulis for providing financial services to his clients.
These serves were not provided and these fees were instead rebated to his clients facilitating unlawful early of their superannuation funds.
Each offense carried a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment.
Saad was reported to ASIC by Apogee and was permanently banned in late 2018.
AUTHOR
Chris Dastoor
Recommended for you
With regional and rural suburbs exhibiting high spare capacity to invest, Money Management speaks to three regional advisers on the opportunities beyond the major cities and the importance of a strong network.
Platform consolidation is expected to accelerate among financial advisers this year, as software company Finura pinpoints which two platforms are set to be the winners, thanks to this trend.
The software provider has made several appointments in its APAC wealth propositions team, with a focus on driving growth across digital advice, Xplan and strategic partnerships.
The platform has announced it plans to close its Xplore managed discretionary account service in 2026 which holds $2 billion in funds under administration.
