ASIC has permanently banned Skynet Financial Services Pty Ltd director Terence Rio Nugara, of Melbourne, Victoria, from providing financial services.

Mr Nugara was the sole director of Skynet Financial Services from 2009 to 2019. Between 2013 and 2017, Mr Nugara and Skynet Financial Services were authorised and corporate authorised representatives of Financial Services Partners.

ASIC found that Mr Nugara misled his clients into believing they were investing in property developments across Melbourne, when in fact the purported developments did not exist. ASIC also found that Mr Nugara falsely represented to investors that investing in these property developments would generate them significant returns.

Mr Nugara obtained a total of $1.6 million from his clients by advising them to withdraw money from their existing superannuation funds and deposit it into self-managed super funds that he set up. ASIC found that Mr Nugara used these funds for his own purposes, including to pay off his own personal debts.

ASIC found that Mr Nugara’s conduct was deliberate, repeated and extended over several years.

Mr Nugara did not respond to ASIC’s concerns.

As a result of the ban, Mr Nugara is permanently prevented from providing any financial service, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business and performing any function involved in carrying on a financial services business.

Mr Nugara has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

The banning has been recorded on the Banned and Disqualified Persons Register.

Mr Nagara is also currently in custody after being arrested by Victoria Police in October 2022 and charged with 35 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.