The corporate watchdog has taken action against an Australian company accused of defrauding investors of their life-savings.
This week, the ABC revealed Global Investment Marketing, known as GIM Trading, had raised millions of dollars from customers who believed they were buying corporate or government bonds.
However, customers suspect the bonds were never purchased and their money is now missing, feared stolen.
The former public face of the company, Stephen Cubis, told the ABC he believed GIM Trading had operated a fraudulent scheme.
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The National Anti-Scam Centre has received reports of almost $8 million in losses related to the company since the beginning of last year.
Investors, like retiree Ron Renton, are frustrated by what they claim was a slow response from the corporate watchdog, ASIC, to warn the public and investigate the misconduct claims.
ASIC has now secured a Federal Court order preventing GIM Trading’s current director 57-year-old Darren Michael Geddes from leaving the country.
The order by Justice Sarah Derrington states Mr Geddes is prevented from travelling out of Australia until March next year and must surrender his passport and any tickets for international travel.
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According to company records, Mr Geddes is based at Burleigh Heads on the southern Gold Coast.
He took over GIM Trading from Stephen Cubis in late October and remains a director.
According to company records Mr Geddes is based at Burleigh Heads. (ABC News)
Bank records from GIM investors show they paid large sums, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars each, to company bank accounts between October 2024 and January 2025, including one account with the Commonwealth Bank.
However, they say they were notified of suspected fraudulent activity in December and attempts to get their money back were unsuccessful.
Mr Cubis admitted he was paid to operate a company bank account and move money on instructions from two men, including one based overseas who he knew only by the man’s initials.
He claimed the instructions came via the encrypted messaging app, Signal.
Stephen Cubis was the public face of the company until October 2024. (ABC News)
Records show Mr Cubis was a director for six months ending in late October 2024.
When pressed by the ABC about whether he had played a much larger role in the suspected fraud than he was letting on, Mr Cubis denied it saying that “would be suicide” and he thought the operation was “legitimate” in the beginning.
He has not supplied evidence of the conversations with the two men, despite promising to do so.
Evidence of offshore involvement
Cybercrime investigator Ken Gamble alleges GIM Trading operated a “sophisticated fraud” and he is being paid by seven clients to investigate what occurred.
Mr Gamble has welcomed the travel ban on Mr Geddes but has questioned why it took so long.
“These types of orders should be put in place immediately once it’s suspected that this company had been involved in a serious, large-scale fraud,” he said.
Mr Gamble said there was evidence of offshore involvement.
Cybercrime investigator Ken Gamble is being paid by seven clients to investigate what occurred. (ABC News: Christopher Gilette)
“We are investigating some of the parties overseas that we have discovered have had an involvement in this fraud.”
GIM Trading’s website and phone lines are no longer working.
Investors claim some call centre workers had British accents.
Company records show Darren Geddes was also a director of another company called Eastern River for several weeks between October and November 2024, around the same time he took over GIM Trading.
Trading company accused of fraud
A YouTube page for Eastern River features a series of videos about investing in fixed-income bonds.
A LinkedIn page says Eastern River specialises in “global equities and fixed income for institutional corporations”, and its website said it was under construction.
However, when the ABC called its phone number, the line was disconnected and there was no response from the company’s email account.
Mr Geddes has not responded to the ABC’s attempts to contact him including about the Federal Court order or his role in GIM Trading and Eastern River.
Queensland police said it had received cybercrime reports in relation to an alleged investment scam and “the matter is under investigation”.
ASIC has been contacted for comment.
The watchdog previously told the ABC it was aware of concerns about GIM Trading and had issued an investor alert in mid-February.