Crypto scam costs adviser a 10-year ban and investors millions

In an apparently unfortunate series of events for investors, an Australian financial adviser is said to have misappropriated millions by sending their money to a “crypto scam.” While there are no reports of criminal charges against the adviser, she was banned from offering financial services for ten years.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said that, between March 2022 and June 2023, financial adviser Glenda Maree Rogan sent at least AUD $14.8 million ($9.6 million) of funds invested by clients, family, and friends to an unspecified "crypto-based investment scam."

During that time, Rogan was a financial adviser with the Fincare group of companies and an authorized representative of Australian financial services licensee Private Wealth Pty Ltd.

According to ASIC, the adviser lied to clients and misled them when presenting the nature, risks, and liquidity of the investment to trick them into trusting her with their money. For example, she falsely claimed that the investment product was a high-yield fixed interest account and not a crypto asset. Moreover, clients were told that in this investment, she acted as a representative of Fincare.

The Australian regulator said they found that the investors’ funds were actually sent to bank accounts belonging to Rogan and her own company, before the majority of the funds were used to buy an unspecified crypto asset. The latter was then transferred to wallets nominated by the Financial Centre, purportedly a UK-based trading platform, which is also on ASIC's Investor Alert List as it is an unlicensed entity.

"ASIC found that Ms Rogan would have had suspicions about the legitimacy of the Financial Centre from at least October 2022," the regulator said, banning Rogan not only from offering financial services but also from controlling any financial services company.

In any case, ASIC noted that the investigation is still ongoing and the adviser can still appeal the ban. At the same time, the regulator also urged Rogan's victims to lodge their complaints with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. However, ASIC did not elaborate on the losses her clients might have incurred.

It's not the first time ASIC has uncovered a malicious, crypto-related investment scheme. For example, as reported by Cybernews.com this past March, the regulator charged Brendan Gunn in a crypto-related criminal case. Gunn is the brother of Rachael Gunn, a.k.a. Raygun, who bewildered the world with her unusual breakdancing at the Olympics in the summer of 2024.