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Investors lose $1.3m in Qld property development fraud
A property developer has been charged with fraud for misappropriating funds withdrawn from investors’ super funds and savings accounts to invest in a Queensland development.
Michael David Steele, of NSW, appeared at Southport Magistrates Court and was charged with seven counts of fraud.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that between May 2016 and February 2017, Steele advised 14 investors to withdraw assets from their employer super funds and savings accounts and invest it in EA Invest Pty Ltd, the corporate entity that was to purchase and develop the property in Biggera Waters, Queensland.
ASIC alleged that Steele withdrew more than $1.3 million of the invested funds from the company bank accounts and used the money for purposes other than the property development.
At the time, he was believed to be a shadow director and the controlling mind of EA Invest Pty Ltd.
The maximum penalty for the alleged offences ranged between 12 and 20 years imprisonment depending on the date of the offending and the amount of the fraud involved.
The matter has been adjourned to 17 July 2023 for mention.
It was being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
In February this year, Queensland-based mortgage broker Christine Betty Childs was banned by ASIC for carrying on an unlicensed financial services business and making misleading claims around property investing to superannuation fund members.
It was found that she recommended clients to buy property through their super, including that they rollover their existing superannuation into self-managed superannuation funds.
AUTHOR
Rhea Nath
Rhea L Nath is a journalist on Super Review and InvestorDaily, with a focus on funds management, superannuation, and institutional investment. Previously, she covered small business and entrepreneurship news at Dynamic Business and multicultural issues at Indian Link Media Group. In 2022, she was named Young Journalist of the Year at the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards.
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