Freezing orders over the assets (including bank accounts) of Gregory Raymond Cotton and his company, First Mutual Equity Pty Ltd (First Mutual), will continue following a Federal Court hearing. The orders were first made on 15 August 2025 following an ASIC application and then extended on 10 September 2025.
Mr Cotton and First Mutual are prevented from transferring money from any of the frozen bank accounts until further order.
ASIC has concerns that Mr Cotton and/or First Mutual appear to have raised approximately $131 million from around 400 investors between January 2020 and August 2025 for the purpose of investing in ASX-listed shares to generate interest payments in circumstances, with ASIC's investigation indicating that:
- no investment of the funds appears to have taken place, whether in ASX-listed shares or elsewhere
- investor funds have been largely spent on gambling (around $80 million, with losses of around $51 million) and payments to investors (around $67 million), and
- only around $7 million in total assets can presently be identified.
The matter will return to the Court on 2 December 2025 for the hearing of ASIC's application to appoint receivers to the Defendants' property. ASIC's investigation is ongoing.
