Former CEO pleads guilty to cheating investors out of $1m

In a statement on Friday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Mr Kamkolkar, as chief executive officer and sole director of Orb Global Investments, obtained nearly $1 million from four investors between January 2014 and February 2018, and failed to invest those funds according to their instructions.

While he pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in dishonest conduct in relation to financial products or services, contrary to s1041G of the Corporations Act, the corporate regulator said a further two offences of carrying on a financial services business without a licence will also be considered by the court.

The corporate regulator explained that Mr Kamkolkar represented to the four investors that the proposed investments were “not as high risk” or were “capital guaranteed”, and falsely represented that he had invested the funds and that the investments were earning returns.

For at least a year following each investment, he continued to tell the investors that their funds would be repaid with significant returns.

“Mr Kamkolkar provided one couple with two fabricated statements of account, which purported to show that their investments had grown significantly since investing, even though Mr Kamkolkar had used the money for other purposes,” the ASIC said.

Moreover, the regulator noted that Mr Kamkolkar falsely represented to two clients that they would be investing in commodities like oil, coffee, corn, or gold.

“One investor provided $449,000 to invest in the transacting of gold sourced from Africa. Mr Kamkolkar promised that the investor would receive $300,000 every quarter for 12 months and that his funds were capital guaranteed. Mr Kamkolkar received the funds into an overdrawn account and spent the funds for his own purposes or to pay back other investors. The investor never received any returns and lost the capital invested,” the regulator said.

Mr Kamkolkar also promised another investor a net return of 30 per cent of his capital plus original capital to be guaranteed and returned within three months. However, that investor lost all capital invested and received no returns, with the ASIC noting that most of the money was used by Mr Kamkolkar to pay another client within days of receipt of the funds.

This matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation and referral by the ASIC.

The next court date is on 24 March 2023 at the Sydney Downing Centre District Court.