Super scammer, Daniel McSweeny permanently banned

ASIC has permanently banned a former financial adviser, Daniel McSweeny, after he was previously banned for five years.

McSweeny was charged with 20 dishonesty offences in 2018, as well as one offence for falsifying books as a company director.

An investigation by ASIC found that McSweeny had transferred or directed others to transfer funds from bank accounts holding client funds.

ASIC alleged that he directed an employee to construct a back-dated statement of advice in response to an investigation being conducted following a complaint.

McSweeny was found unfit to stand trial on 11 February 2020, with the judge finding that there was enough evidence to support the charges of dishonesty and falsifying books in the absence of evidence from the defendant.

ASIC also found that McSweeny had been involved in managing 14 failed companies. The total amount of debt owed by the 14 companies to creditors amounted to about $9.8 million.

One victim of McSweeny, Lynn Gundrie, told Channel Nine she had lost her entire $600,000 superannuation balance after McSweeny convinced her to become a client by telling her that he could achieve better returns than her current financial adviser.