300% Returns Promise Ends in More Than 5 Years' Prison for Australian Adviser

A former financial services director has been sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison after pitching self-managed superannuation fund investors yields of up to 300% on maturity, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said today (Tuesday)

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Ashley Arandez, of Hoppers Crossing in Victoria, was sentenced on May 8 in the County Court of Victoria after pleading guilty last August to dishonest conduct, carrying on an unlicensed financial services business, and recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

He will be eligible for parole after serving three years and six months.

The 300% Pitch

Between September 2017 and April 2021, Arandez took roughly A$1.97 million from investors, marketing Marketing Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have t Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have t Read this Term returns of 8% to 12% per year or as much as 300% on maturity after three years.

Clients were directed to roll over money from their self-managed superannuation funds into investment products Arandez controlled, ASIC said. Most of the promised payouts never came.

The headline yield sits well above what Australian regulators have flagged as the calling card of high-yield investment fraud.

"Mr Arandez betrayed the trust of his clients, misappropriated investors' funds and used the money for his own benefit," ASIC Deputy Chairwoman Sarah Court said.

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"ASIC took this action to protect consumers from harm caused by dishonest and unlicensed conduct. The Court's sentence reflects the seriousness of Mr Arandez's misconduct and sends a strong signal to deter others from similar conduct."

ASIC's earlier criminal action against Aryn Hala, who pitched 10-20% annual returns through crypto-linked SMSF rollovers via his A One Multi Services vehicle, drew on the same template of guaranteed-looking returns funneled through self-managed funds. Arandez's number was several times higher.

Arandez lost his authorization to provide financial services on June 23, 2019, but kept operating for nearly two more years. Investor money was spent on a house registered in his own name and a motorhome, according to ASIC.

A Tightening Net around SMSF Fraud

The case fits a pattern ASIC has been chasing for years. Australia's A$4 trillion retirement pool has become a recurring target for unlicensed operators, and the regulator has warned consumers to be "on red alert" for cold-calling schemes that move super into high-risk or fictitious products.

The Arandez file sits alongside larger ASIC priorities, including the collapsed Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund matters, where roughly 4,000 investors stand to recover more than A$420 million after the regulator pursued asset freezes and trustee admissions.

Macquarie agreed to A$321 million in compensation to Shield investors, while Netwealth committed more than A$100 million to First Guardian investors.

Different scale, same shape. Retail savers move retirement money into a managed structure that promises outsized yields, the operator behind the product turns out to be unlicensed or non-compliant, and the money disappears or stops flowing.

Comparable Cases and How They Ended

Australian courts have handed down a string of comparable sentences for unlicensed operators in recent years.

The third conviction in the Courtenay House investment scheme, against promoter David Sipina, ended in a three-year intensive correction order over A$3.9 million in commissions collected from 215 investors.

John Bigatton, the Australian face of the BitConnect Ponzi scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and Read this Term, pleaded guilty in 2024 to providing unlicensed financial services.

A separate ASIC matter targets Darren Geddes of Gold Coast firm GIM Trading, accused of running an A$8 million bond scam. Geddes is under travel restraint while the investigation continues.

The conviction triggers an automatic ban on managing corporations, which will run for five years after Arandez's release from prison. ASIC froze his assets and those of five related entities in 2022, then added travel restraint orders in February 2023 to keep him in Australia during proceedings.

The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an ASIC investigation.

It feeds into a regulator scoreboard that closed 2025 with A$583 million in refunds and compensation flowing back to Australians and A$349.8 million in civil penalties, the highest six-monthly total in ASIC's history.