Seven years jail for false statements

A former managing director of a Sydney financial services company has been jailed for seven years for making false statements to investors and covering up losses they had incurred.

Robert Geoffrey Walker of Mosman, NSW, has been convicted in the Sydney District Court of 21 counts of deception relating to the Financial Options Group Incorporated (FOGI).

The loss to investors associated with the charges against Walker amounted to around $1.9 million, while on aggregate, investors in the now defunct FOGI lost near on $11 million.

FOGI claimed to be providing professional investment management services in the non-regulated foreign exchange bullion and base metal markets.

An investigation by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) found many investors, predominantly based in Sydney, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast and Brisbane, lost their superannuation savings.

Walker, and FOGI co-director, Robert Gary Johnstone, sent false monthly reports to investors, complete with account statements revealing fictitious returns on investments.

The statements were calculated to deceive investors over their returns, when in fact FOGI had sustained significant losses from the outset of its trading.

Walker, a previous executive director of Macquarie Bank, used part of the investor funds for his own use, including re-payment of personal credit cards and discharging a mortgage.

Meanwhile, ASIC is pursuing a Queensland Supreme Court action against a promoter of wealth creation seminars and an associated investment scheme based on the Gold Coast.

It is alleged Jack Weavers provided financial advice through his company, Oneworld Seminars, without a Australian Financial Services licence, and operated an illegal managed investment scheme.

Weavers, formerly known as Hamid Alenaddaf, also allegedly engaged in misleading conduct by publishing material on the Oneworld Seminars website that his investment scheme complied with the law.

The action follows court orders, obtained by ASIC on October 19, restraining Weavers from certain conduct relating to the promotion and operation of the seminars. Topics included share trading, foreign currency trading and financing of luxury cars.

Ongoing guidance and networking opportunities were also provided to clients by way of a ‘Graduate Program’ and ‘Mentoring Program’.

Completion of the programs allowed entry into various investment clubs and joint ventures organised by Weavers, as well as entry to the Oneworld Seminars website.