ASIC has permanently banned Mr Jackson Temi Anni from engaging in credit activities and providing financial services following convictions in the Darwin Local Court last year.
In proceedings commenced by the Northern Territory police in 2017, Mr Anni pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including stealing, and received a sentence of 18 months imprisonment. Mr Anni has also been disqualified from managing corporations for five years following his release.
Mr Anni targeted Aboriginal people at Darwin hospital, its associated hostels, and in very remote surrounding communities. Consumers were often sick or facing addictions, and in the majority of cases, English was not the consumer's first language. Mr Anni took advantage of the fact that the Aboriginal people wanted access to items that would assist them to engage in modern life and with their community.
The Local Court found that, when entering into agreements for tablets and offering cash loans, Mr Anni obtained consumers' online banking log-in details as a method of payment. He then logged into the consumers' bank accounts and transferred himself money that was far greater than the amount agreed to.
Mr Anni was formerly the director of FDRA Pty Ltd, and then Eagle Ventures Pty Ltd.
Background
This outcome is the result of work by ASIC's Indigenous Outreach Program (IOP), which is staffed by lawyers and analysts, the majority of whom are Indigenous. The IOP gathers intelligence from regulators, police, Indigenous consumers and their advocates, undertakes surveillance, implements targeted financial literacy programs and works with industry to improve access to appropriate products and services.
ASIC has the power under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 to ban a person from engaging in credit activities in circumstances where the person has been convicted of 'serious fraud', such as stealing. Similarly, s920A and 920B of the Corporations Act 2001 provides the same power.
ASIC’s MoneySmart website provides impartial and trusted financial guidance and tools to support informed financial decision-making for all Australians, including Indigenous consumers.