Mayfair 101 Group director James Mawhinney will be unable to promote or raise funds in connection with financial products for over a decade after the Federal Court found he had a 'cavalier attitude to compliance' and handed down final restraint orders in proceedings brought by ASIC.
Finding that Mr Mawhinney had a 'willingness to adopt a reckless approach to the conduct of a financial services business', Justice Button ordered that he be restrained for a further 15 years from:
- Receiving or soliciting funds in connection with any financial product[1], and
- Advertising, promoting or marketing any financial product.
The final orders bring the total period of injunctions against Mr Mawhinney to 20 years, as he has been subject to interim restraint orders since 13 August 2020, following ASIC proceedings.
An ASIC spokesperson said, 'This is the culmination of a matter that has taken many years and considerable resources. ASIC first acted in this matter over five years ago to protect the public. The Court has today found that there is an unacceptable risk that Mr Mawhinney would re-enter the fray and operate in the financial services sector in a financially reckless manner, such that he should be restrained from promoting or raising funds through financial products for a further 15 years. We welcome this decision.'
Handing down her decision today, Justice Button said, 'the operations established and run by Mr Mawhinney exposed investors to an obvious and substantial risk of loss, which risk materialised, resulting in investors suffering heavy losses'.
Justice Button found that Mr Mawhinney gave 'no proper consideration of how obligations to investors would be met,' with his only plan being 'to raise more and more money from investors'.
Justice Button said, 'The simple fact is that, in circumstances where the Mayfair Group was in serious financial trouble, Mr Mawhinney made the decision to stop paying investors sums due to them and was prepared to try to get the Mayfair Group out of the hole it was in by raising more money from unsuspecting investors.'
In reaching her decision on relief, Justice Button found that 'there is an unacceptable risk that, unless restrained' Mr Mawhinney will conduct a financial services business that 'adopts a financially reckless approach that exposes the investing public to significant risk of loss', fails to disclose material risks to potential investors and puts out misleading marketing material.
Her Honour declined to make the order sought by ASIC that Mr Mawhinney be restrained from removing or transferring from Australia any assets acquired directly or indirectly with funds received in connection with any financial product.
The injunctions follow the Court finding in July that Mr Mawhinney was associated with or involved in breaches of the law committed by the Mayfair 101 Group companies, with Justice Button noting at the time that 'Mr Mawhinney's relentless heaping of blame on others, coupled with his apparently complete lack of introspection, does not stand to his credit when consideration turns to final relief.'
The Court will make orders on costs at a later date, after the parties make written submissions.
