ASIC Bans Financial Adviser for Decade Over Crypto Scam Involvement

Australian financial adviser Melissa Rogan has been barred from the industry for ten years following her role in diverting AU$14.8 million (US$9.6 million) of client funds into a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The funds were funneled to The Financial Centre, an unlicensed platform, between March 2022 and June 2023 while Rogan represented Fincare Group and Private Wealth Pty Ltd.

Clients were misled into believing they were investing in high-yield fixed-interest accounts, only to have their capital converted to cryptocurrencies and transferred to wallets controlled by the scam operation. ASIC noted Rogan ignored red flags about The Financial Centre as early as 2022. "The severity of this misconduct warranted removal from the financial services sector," the regulator stated in its ban order.