DanFX's Daniel Farook Ali sentenced to 7 years in prison after extradition

The District Court in Brisbane, Australia, has sentenced Daniel Farook Ali, former director of DanFX Trade Pty Ltd, to seven years and three months' imprisonment for fraud.

The order follows the arrest and extradition of Daniel Farook Ali to Australia after years on the run. He left the country on 8 May 2018 during an ongoing investigation by ASIC into his conduct, which led to ASIC commencing civil proceedings against him. Daniel Ali was found in Poland and extradited in July 2022.

Once back in Australia, ASIC charged him with eight counts of fraud totaling $977,000 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

Daniel Farook Ali defrauded 200 investors out of A$13 million

ASIC first took Daniel Farook Ali to court after a $13 million scam between May 2016 and November 2017 in which he dishonestly used funds provided to him by investors for trading purposes and investment for unauthorized purposes, including the purchase of real estate and luxury cars for his family members. and related companies, and to pay returns to other investors. In some cases, funds provided to the alleged fraudster by investors came from investors' self-directed retirement accounts, the regulator added.

ASIC commenced proceedings in 2017, alleging that Daniel Ali, through DanFX, operated an unregistered managed investment scheme known as the Daniel Ali Scheme, which raised approximately $13 million from over 200 investors.

On July 23, 2018, the Court found that:

• Mr Ali, DanFX and two related companies operated the Daniel Ali Scheme, which was a managed investment scheme which was required to be registered under the Corporations Act but was not;
• Mr Ali contravened the Corporations Act by operating the Daniel Ali Scheme without holding an Australian financial services license; And
• Mr Ali broke the Companies Act by managing DanFX and two related companies, although he was disqualified from managing companies due to a previous fraud conviction.

Eligibility for parole from July 5, 2024

The Court sentenced Mr. Ali to seven years and three months' imprisonment, with the possibility of parole from July 5, 2024. The Court took into account the time that Mr. Ali has already spent in detention since November 2021 when of the imposition of the sentence.

The case was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following a referral from ASIC.