ASIC bans financial adviser for ten years

Australia Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a financial adviser for ten years over a crypto scam. In a recent media release, the regulator alleged that Glenda Maree Rogan misappropriated client funds with scam crypto investments.

According to ASIC, Rogan transferred AU$14.8 million (worth around US$9.6 million) of clients’ funds to a crypto investment scam, The Financial Center. This happened between March 2022 and June 2023 while she was a financial adviser and account for the Fincare group of companies.

She was also an authorized representative of Private Wealth Pty Ltd and misled clients about the nature and risks of their investments while advising them as a Fincare representative.

Her misrepresentations and false statements, which included telling clients they were investing in a high-yield fixed-interest account, induced some of these clients to transfer money to accounts under her control.

She reportedly converted most of the funds into cryptocurrencies and sent them to wallets nominated by The Financial Centre. ASIC has blacklisted The Financial Centre as an unlicensed entity and noted that Rogan ought to have some suspicions about the platform as far back as 2022.

Based on this, the regulator has banned Rogan from financial services for ten years. This means she cannot perform any financial services-related function or control an entity that carries out financial services.

The press release stated:

“ASIC found that Ms Rogan did not comply with a financial services law by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct (and) also found it had reason to believe that Ms Rogan is not a fit and proper person, is not competent to participate in the Australian financial services industry.”

Although the ban has already been effective since June 6, 2025, the regulator noted that Rogan can still appeal while adding that the investigation continues. Thus, it has called anyone affected by the incident to file complaints with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Australian regulators cracking down on crypto-related crimes and fraud

Meanwhile, ASIC’s action is part of nationwide efforts to crack down on investment scams and crypto-related crimes in Australia. The regulator has been at the forefront of this by shutting down over 10,000 investment scam websites as of the end of February, including over 1,200 crypto-related scams.

Last month, ASIC also a former executive of crypto exchange ACX.io, Liang “Allan” Guo, over the exchange’s collapse. ACX collapse has left users with millions in losses while Guo has fled the country.

Interestingly, it is not just ASIC clamping down on crimes and other crypto-related scams. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) also just introduced new requirements for operators of crypto automated teller machines (ATMs).

The new rules limit withdrawal and deposit to AU$5,000, which is around US$3,250. It also requires the ATMs to display warning messages to prevent users from falling victim to fraud while increasing their Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering requirements.

Interestingly, AUSTRAC refused to renew the license of a crypto ATM operator, Harro’s Empire, due to concerns about its ATM misuse.

Meanwhile, the Australian police recently charged four people with money laundering using cryptocurrencies. According to the police, the criminal gang has laundered around $125 million with crypto.

Crypto adoption in Australia continues to grow

While recent regulatory efforts might give the impression of a crypto crackdown in Australia, the reality is far from this. In fact, the increase in regulatory efforts is a reaction to the rising adoption of crypto in the country, which some bad actors are trying to take advantage of.

For instance, Australia now has almost 2,000 crypto ATMs, a significant number compared to the 23 it had in 2019. These ATMs process about 150,000 transactions annually, with 72% of their usage done by individuals over 50 years.

Interestingly, more than 30% of Australians own or have owned crypto assets, according to a survey earlier this year, with another 14.3% interested in investing in crypto.

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