ASIC sends message by bankrupting Finfluencer
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has sent a clear message to so-called ‘finfluencers’ and others providing unlicensed financial services by effectively bankrupting the man behind the “Black Wolf Pit”, Tyson Robert Scholz.
In what represented the culmination of prosecutorial action against Sholz started by ASIC in 2021, the Federal Court granted sequestration orders against Sholz after he failed to pay court costs amounting to $456,293.
Announcing the sequestration orders, ASIC emphasised that the effect of the orders was to make Sholz bankrupt with the regulator saying it had also applied to the Australian Financial Security Authority to have trustees appointed over the assets of Sholz.
It is the first time ASIC has taken action against a Finluencer to the extent of effective bankruptcy with the move following on from the Federal Court finding in December, 2022 that Sholz had contravened the Corporations Act by carrying on a financial services business between March 2020 and November 2021 without an Australian Financial Services License.
In April, last year, the Federal Court imposed permanent injunctions against Scholz prohibiting from carrying on a financial services business in Australia whilst orcdering him to pay costs.
It was after Scholz failed to pay those costs, that ASIC took the next step and served a Bankruptcy Notice in July last year followed by a Creditors Petition which was heard this week resulting in the sequestration orders.
Why was this guy so different to all the other finfluencers and scammers?
ASIC persecutes all licensed advisers, including the honest majority. But when it comes to harmful, illegal, financial advice providers, ASIC cherrypicks a tiny minority and ignores the rest.
So the court costs?; are they part of ASIC’s recovery costs which go into consolidated revenue and not subtracted from their operational cost. If this is what is happening, then why should Registered Advisers pay for ASIC to prosecute an unlicensed person. Makes no sense that we are funding ASIC to prosecute, but I guess we’ll never know.
All paid for via Real Advisers from the ASIC Levy that is designed to send Real Advisers bankrupt too.
And what about the other people involved with his ‘pump and dump’ schemes? They are all there too look at, because they were all working together on social media. What about Adam Blumenthal? He somehow has managed to strike a deal with ASIC, gets to keep his business, for market rigging, breaching directors AND he was working with Tyson Scholz to pump Creso Pharma! How corrupt is that. All this guy gets is a fine and a 5yr ban. WTF.
“According to the undertaking, filed in ASIC’s register, Mr Blumenthal had loaned money to clients of EverBlu, including more than $7 million to Tyson Scholz – the Lamborghini-driving ASX Wolf – to buy shares in Creso. A further $5 million was loaned to another unnamed EverBlu client.”
This is shareholders (mostly mum and dad retail investors probably) money that he spent. And all ASIC do is give him a little slap. What an absolute joke of a regulator, being more concerned with pinging advisers for minor breachers and regulatory capture.
If that were an Adviser it would be lifetime bans, name spread across the news etc etc.
Crime doesn’t pay
No, just good, honest, hard working advisers pay or so it seems.
Amen