Fraudster in cops’ sights
Borrowers lose thousands to online swindlers
POLICE are investigating whether convicted fraudsters such as Marius Ackerman are allegedly exploiting online platforms to rip off borrowers.
Numerous complaints have been made to police that Citi Private Capital charged upfront fees for commercial loans that were never delivered.
The amount of money claimed to be lost ranged in the tens of thousands of dollars.
As part of their inquiry, police are investigating whether Ackerman used a different name to operate Citi Private Capital.
Ackerman was jailed for seven years in 2015 for setting up three separate businesses and using them to engineer false claims for GST refunds to the value of more than $1 million.
In 2013, he was jailed for 3½ years for scamming $110,000 from people who paid for British bulldog puppies but never received the prized pets.
It has emerged that online platform Alternative Debt Solutions (ADS) banned Citi Private after receiving complaints from borrowers that they had been ripped off.
ADS is an online vehicle that connects borrowers to non-bank financiers or private lenders.
People, including brokers, post on the platform detailing the size of the loan they are seeking, the purpose of the loan, and the terms and conditions they will accept.
Financiers can then message the borrower to say they are interested in providing the funds.
ADS director Asfandyar Uppal said financiers had to show website and lending criand teria before they were registered on the website.
He said they received “a handful” of complaints before Citi Private was removed after a three-month stint on the platform.
“We had reports they were doing misconduct and were breaking our terms of user agreement,” he said.
Mr Uppal said he did not know how many brokers had dealt with Citi Private and paid money to the lender during those three months. He was well aware of the complaints said he had heard of similar practices in the industry.
“This is where they say they are going to do a deal and they request the borrower pay upfront fees to issue loan documents, and then when the time comes to settle they stop responding,” he said.
“There are a lot of lenders like that in the market, and the non-bank lending market has been plagued like that for a long time. It is not just them, we have seen it happen on numerous occasions.”
Mr Uppal said ADS was tightening its requirements for lenders to use the platform.
He said it would roll out changes with more stringent checks required to become verified. This included more background information from the lender and loan documents proving the existence of successfully completed loan agreements.
Gold Coast roadworks company i2S says it is owed money by Citi Private.
The directors say a broker, acting on their behalf, posted on ADS seeking a $5.2 million loan to help with cashflow at the struggling firm. They paid $15,000 in upfront fees but the loan was never delivered and they later were forced to go into administration.
Accrutus Capital’s Joanne Russell, the broker who introduced i2S to Citi Private, said many brokers used ADS to find lenders.
Ms Russell said that since the global financial crisis, alternative lenders had thrived as it had become harder to obtain funds from traditional banks.
She said Citi Private was the first lender to respond to her post seeking finance and offered the most competitive terms. She became suspicious when $15,000 in fees were paid to Citi by i2S and it stopped responding to her calls. She later approached ADS to have Citi removed from the platform.
A person purporting to be a representative of Citi Private contacted the Bulletin yesterday afternoon to say complaints laid against the company were the result of “fraudulent transactions”.
“They (sic) well documented and all the information is in the hands of our lawyers to support the aforementioned,” the person wrote. “Do not contact me again. I will without further notice to you file a peace and good behaviour application against you.”