Australian Woman Hit With Ten-Year Ban Over $9.6 Million Crypto Scheme

An Australian financial adviser has been banned for ten years after allegedly stealing $9.6 million from clients to invest in a crypto scam.

Glenda Maree Rogan allegedly transferred client funds to a crypto-based investment scam between March 2022 and June 2023, according to a statement released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Wednesday.

While working as an authorised representative of Private Wealth Pty Ltd and the Fincare group of companies, Rogan “made false statements to clients, and engaged in conduct that misled clients, about the nature, risks and liquidity of the investment,” ASIC said.

The ten-year ban, which took effect on June 6, also prohibits Rogan from performing any function in a financial services business or controlling such entities.

“ASIC also found it had reason to believe that Ms Rogan is not a fit and proper person, is not competent to participate in the Australian financial services industry, and is likely to contravene a financial services law,” the regulator added.

The regulator alleged that Rogan told victims their money was going into “a high-yield fixed interest account, rather than cryptocurrency, which carried significant risk,” and falsely claimed clients were dealing with her as a Fincare representative.

The scheme involved transferring investor funds to bank accounts controlled by Rogan and her personal company, the regulator said.

The majority of funds were then converted to crypto and sent to wallets controlled by an entity called the Financial Centre, purportedly a U.K.-based trading platform on ASIC’s blacklist.

Australian regulators have been cracking down on crypto-related fraud over the past few years, with ASIC claiming to have assisted in the shutdown of 615 crypto investment scams as of August 2024.

Last month, ASIC launched civil proceedings against former ACX.io director Liang “Allan” Guo over the exchange’s collapse, which left customers with claims exceeding $20 million.

In March, Brendan Gunn—brother of Olympic breakdancer Rachel “Raygun” Gunn—was charged with dealing with suspected proceeds of crime in a separate crypto fraud case involving $181,000.

Meanwhile, Rogan’s banning has been recorded on ASIC’s banned and disqualified register. She retains the right to appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal, while ASIC’s investigation into her conduct remains ongoing.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair