Federal Court freezes assets of individual amid Shield investigation
The Federal Court has made orders freezing the assets of an individual allegedly associated with marketing Shield and First Guardian Master Funds.
The orders, put in place on 17 March, freeze the assets of Rashid Alshakshir, a director of three companies – Lion & Horn, Nohap Pty and Indigo Group – now in liquidation.
He is being investigated by ASIC regarding allegations of the provision of marketing services, including lead generation and payment for those alleged services, in connection with Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund.
Among the restrictions, he must not remove any property from Australia, diminish the value of any property or withdraw or dispose of any digital currency. He must also disclose the details of his accounts and locations and access keys of any cryptocurrency.
The investigations by ASIC are ongoing, and the court made the freezing orders with his consent. The orders will remain in place until further orders.
On 20 January, ASIC sought travel restrictions against Alshakshir to prevent him catching a flight to Indonesia. However, while ASIC obtained temporary ex parte restrictions, the application was dismissed on 22 January.
Shield Master Fund was a managed investment scheme which had Melbourne-based Keystone Asset Management (KAM) as its responsible entity. In February 2024, ASIC halted new offers of investments in Shield and made interim stop orders on four product disclosure statements for Shield.
In June 2024, ASIC took action to secure the assets held within Shield. ASIC sought the appointment of Jason Tracy and Lucica Palaghia of Deloitte as receivers and managers of the property of KAM. In December 2024, ASIC said that the creditors of KAM had resolved to wind up KAM and appoint Tracy and Glen Kanevsky of Deloitte as joint and several liquidators. The Shield fund remains under the management of the receivers and has not entered wind up at this stage.
Earlier this month, the Federal Court made interim orders freezing certain assets of Melbourne-based financial adviser Ferras Merhi and Osama Saad, former director of Aus Super Compare Pty Ltd (in liquidation) and Atlas Marketing Pty Ltd (in liquidation).
Merhi controls Venture Egg Financial Services Pty Ltd and United Financial Advice Pty Ltd, trading as Venture Egg and Financial Services Group Australia Pty Ltd (FSGA). Both Venture Egg and Merhi are authorised representatives of licensee InterPrac Financial Planning Pty Ltd. FSGA also holds an AFSL.
Saad was a director of Aus Super Compare until September 2024 and the sole director of Atlas until November 2024. Both entities were placed into liquidation in late 2024.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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