Former DanFX director sentenced to prison for fraud

Daniel Farook Ali, the former director of unlicensed foreign exchange business DanFX, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for fraud after dishonestly using investors' funds to buy a BMW for an associate personal and real estate for him and his wife. , among other expenses.

Last week, Ali pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud totaling $77 related to his misappropriation of invested funds for business and investment purposes between May 20 and November 207.

Ali will be eligible for parole from July 5 this year, having already spent time in custody since November 202, when he was arrested in Poland and extradited to Australia in August the following year .

In sentencing Ali, Judge Heaton KC said his offending involved a level of sophistication over a period of time which exploited the trust of his victims, and that his dishonesty contributed to making these victims' financial situations particularly devastating.

Ali had previously been sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment in an unrelated conviction on fraud charges brought by the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions, although his prison sentence was suspended after serving six month.

However, based on this fraud conviction, in November 207, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) permanently banned Ali from providing financial services or engaging in credit activities. Later that month, the regulator obtained orders from the Queensland Supreme Court appointing William Buck's Anthony Castley as receiver of the assets of Ali, DanFX Trade and related companies.

Amid ongoing civil proceedings brought by ASIC, which was also investigating Ali's conduct, the former director fled the country in May 208, and it was more than two years before a Queensland magistrate issued a warrant for his arrest in December 2020 following an investigation. demand from the company's watchdog.

While Ali was already in Poland, ASIC obtained orders from the Queensland Supreme Court permanently banning Ali from managing companies, after the Court found he was running an unregistered managed investment scheme without an Australian license of financial services and that he managed DanFX Trade and two related companies. although he was disqualified due to his previous fraud conviction

His arrest in the European country was facilitated by the Australian Federal Police Fugitive Apprehension Team, the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) and Polish authorities.