Charges laid over dishonesty offences with super fund money
A former financial adviser has been charged with dishonesty offences after allegations by ASIC that they dishonestly transferred superannuation money and instructed an employee to back-date a statement of advice.
Former Sydney financial adviser Mr Daniel McSweeny has been charged with 20 dishonesty offences which he allegedly committed when he was a company director, ASIC said in a public statement.
Mr McSweeny ran a financial services business, Wealth Achievers, with offices in Parramatta and Mosman.
The alleged misconduct occurred while either Mr McSweeny or his company, FF & I Holdings, now in liquidation, was an authorised representative of AFS Group (AFSL No 259586).
Mr McSweeny appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney this week.
During the relevant period, Mr McSweeny was sole director of two trustee companies, Constantia Pty Ltd and Prettoria Pty Ltd, which are now both in liquidation.
Each company held a bank account into which client funds, mostly superannuation savings, were transferred.
ASIC alleges that between 28 March 2011 and 24 December 2012, Mr McSweeny dishonestly transferred or directed others to transfer funds from those bank accounts for the benefit of himself or others.
ASIC also alleges that between 21 and 29 May 2012, Mr McSweeny directed an employee to construct a back-dated statement of advice which was given to an Australian financial services licensee, AFS Group Ltd, in answer to an investigation it was conducting following a complaint by one of Mr McSweeny’s clients.
The matter was adjourned for further mention on 12 March 2019 at the Downing Centre Local Court.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
