Ex-adviser faces criminal charges for ban breach

Former financial adviser Lawrence Toledo is facing criminal charges for breaching an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) banning order.

Toledo was banned from providing financial services for seven years after ASIC found he had failed to act in the best interests of his clients when advising them to establish a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) to purchase properties.

Toledo’s partner at the time was the sole director of Premier Realty Group which was not disclosed to the SMSF and its trustees.

ASIC alleged Toledo breached the existing banning order by:

• Providing financial advice to a SMSF to invest in Premier Realty Group Pty Ltd;
• Arranging the sale of a financial product (70,000 shares in Premier Realty Group for $70,000) to the SMSF; and
• Arranging a second sale of financial products (14,000 additional shares in Premier Realty Group, costing $14,000) to the same SMSF.

The maximum penalty for each charge of engaging in conduct in breach of a financial services banning order is $5,250 or imprisonment for six months, or both.

On 27 August, 2021, the former adviser from Coorparoo, Queensland, appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with three breaches of a financial services banning order.

The matter was being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following a referral from ASIC and had been adjourned for mention on 1 October, 2021.

Toledo’s banning was recorded on the Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified Persons Register, but would expire on 5 September, 2024.