A Melbourne finance broker faces criminal charges over allegations he swindled $1.4 million from investors.
Spartaco Fasciale of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with 15 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and 108 counts of breaching director's duties.
ASIC investigated Fasciale, the sole director of the now insolvent Fasciale Futures Trading for more than two years between March 2004 and May 2006.
ASIC alleges nine people collectively invested over $1.4 million with Fasciale Futures and that their principal investments have not been repaid.
It is believed that Fasciale Futures offered investors a 3 per cent per month return on their investments to be generated from the company's trading in securities and derivatives.
In May the regulator froze the company's assets, wound up the company and banned Fasciale from leaving the country after the broker allegedly said he owned property in Italy and intended to travel there last year.
ASIC was additionally concerned that Fasciale or his company may have dealt in financial products without a license.
PKF Chartered Accountants was brought in as the official liquidator.
The matter will return to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 22 May 2007 for a committal mention hearing.
