Former
financial services director Mark Francis McCabe has been sentenced to four
years and three months in prison for orchestrating a sophisticated forex
trading scam that defrauded investors of nearly $1 million.

Former-Financial Director
Sentenced to Over 4 Years for $1M Forex Trading Fraud

The Downing
Centre District Court in Sydney imposed the sentence with a non-parole period
of two years and six months after McCabe pleaded guilty to three counts of
dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Four additional
offences were taken into account during sentencing.

Between
January 2015 and April 2021, McCabe, who served as the sole director of
now-deregistered companies Guevara Capital Access Pty Ltd (GCA) and Online
Trading Capital Pty Ltd (OTC), misled eight victims, seven of whom were clients
of his companies.

McCabe
falsely claimed to provide investors with legitimate FX trading accounts on a
third-party platform along with access to specific amounts of capital.

“Investors
used these “test” accounts to conduct what they believed to be genuine trading;
however, no actual trading took place,” the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC ) said in a statement.

Misappropriation of Funds

Instead of
using investor payments for their intended purpose, McCabe diverted $940,350 to
fund his personal and business expenses, including rental payments , private
school fees, and credit card purchases.

Judge
David, who presided over the case, described McCabe’s scheme as “highly
deceptive” and “more than simply enticing people,” calling it a
“sophisticated scheme that created the illusion of genuine trading.”

The judge
noted that McCabe had gained “trust from his victims,” “relied
on his reputation,” and misled victims to “feel their money was
safe.” The court found he engaged in “a form of psychological
bullying” and manipulative behavior to cause victims to “take on
illusory deals.”

Severe Impact on Victims

In her
sentencing remarks, Judge David emphasized the “significant” and
“life-changing” impact on victims, which caused both
“emotional” and “financial devastation.”

“The
sentence imposed by the Court demonstrates the seriousness of Mr McCabe’s
misconduct and sends a strong signal that will deter others from engaging in
similar misconduct,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court added.

The case
was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an
investigation and referral by the ASIC.

Under New
South Wales law, the maximum penalty for dishonestly obtaining a financial
advantage by deception is 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of $110,000.