Former DanFX Trade director arrested

Unlicensed foreign exchange trader and former DanFX Trade director, Daniel Farook Ali, has been arrested, following his extradition from Poland and the investigation by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).

According to the corporate regulator, between 2016 and 2017 Ali allegedly dishonestly used funds provided to him by investors for trading and investment purposes for unauthorised purposes, including to buy real estate and luxury cars for his family members and related companies, and to pay returns to other investors.

In some cases, the funds provided to Ali by investors had come from investors’ self-managed superannuation accounts.

Ali, who faced the Brisbane Magistrate Court and was charged with eight counts of fraud totalling $977,000, departed Australia in May 2018, in the midst of ongoing civil proceedings commenced by ASIC against him and during an ongoing ASIC investigation into his conduct.

Following this, Queensland magistrate issued Ali’s arrest in December 2020 before he was arrested in Poland in November, 2021, with the Polish Government having granted his extradition in July, 2022, after Ali had consented to being extradited.

Ali appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on 18 August 2022 and was remanded in custody to appear again on 2 September 2022.

ASIC said it had acknowledged the assistance of the Australian Federal Police’s Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) and Polish authorities in relation to Ali’s extradition.