| Media item | |
| | Hunt continues for missing crypto millions | The Australian,
Australia
by Angelica Snowden
| 20 May 2024 | | Business News - Page 13 - 1342 words - ID 2072532886 - Photo: Yes - Type: News Item - Size: 591.00cm2 | |
SMSF investors were told they could earn returns of up to 16pc
Before Gold Coaster Ryan Brown fronted videos spruiking a cryptocurrency scheme that hundreds of Australians were convinced to tip their super savings into, he worked at Cash Converters.
So how did the self-described "blockchain mining and cryptocurrency enthusiast" wind up having his assets seized amid an investigation into NGS Crypto, with fears about the whereabouts of investments worth $60m?
Whatever the answer, Canadian born Mr Brown says he's not really the guy the Australian Securities and Investments Commission want in relation to their probe into NGS Digital, NGS Group and NGS Crypto.
"We say (Mr Brown) . is junior to (Brett) Mendham and (Mark) Ten Caten," Mr Brown's barrister Sean Russell said during a Federal Court hearing in April.
"Mr Brown has no involvements in investor funds." Mr Russell claimed at the time the two other directors that have caught the eye of the watchdog, Brett Mendham and Mark Ten Caten, had not yet "put on evidence" about their assets, leaving Mr Brown as the only one of the trio to have engaged with the court process.
Mr Brown also argued in court he needed some of his money unfrozen.
His barrister said he was required to pay a balance of $135,000 to complete the purchase of property in the Gold Coast, and estimated it would cost a further $595,000 to build on the land. He wanted $140,000 to pay off a loan on his luxury American ute and needed $10,000 a month in living expenses too, he said.
Mr Brown was allowed $6000 per month for living expenses via receivers, legal fees plus $135,000 to complete the purchase of land.
During a hearing on Thursday, the court heard the other di Continued on Page 16
rectors were likely to request freezing orders be varied.
Get rich or die trying In April, ASIC won "extraordinary" and "dramatic" orders to freeze digital currency assets belonging to the three cryptocurrency companies and their directors to preserve them.
Federal Court judge Fiona Meagher also appointed McGrathNicol as receivers of the companies, and in her reasons noted that between November 2017 and December 2023 there were 501 investors who supplied $US41m ($60m) to the scheme.
She said 464 were Australian, who contributed about $58m and 227 investors were self-managed super funds, all of which were Australian. A small amount of remaining investors are Indonesian.
A money-making opportunity was advertised with possible returns of up to 16 per cent, Justice Meagher said.
"Part of the business model of the defendants was to introduce clients to 'financial advisers and superannuation professionals' to assist with a transaction to a selfmanaged super fund in order to participate in the crypto mining activities," she said.
"In many instances, the plaintiff submitted those advisers and professionals were, in fact, simply 'document-makers' or 'rubberstampers'." McGrathNicol receiver Anthony Connelly told The Australian a number of assets in the names of the various defendants had been secured. During an earlier hearing, the Federal Court heard that just $1m of $60m has been identified.
"The receivers have been contacted by over 100 investors, several of whom have indicated their entire superannuation balance is invested with the NGS Crypto group of entities and many of whom have advised their investments were made through selfmanaged superannuation funds," he said.
NGS Crypto hosts a range of promotional videos online that sell investments as a safe, "passive" income investment scheme off the back of stale wage growth.
In one, Mr Mendham who has now been slapped with a travel ban said he "came from nothing" and understood how hard people work to earn a living.
"Retirement to some people is a very doom and gloom scenario at the moment with where their finances are heading," he said.
In the same video Mr Brown says "we are all working towards the same thing".
"A better lifestyle . being able to spend more time with our family and also being able to pay off our mortgages and being able to retire comfortably," he said.
ASIC alleges the NGS companies targeted investors, encouraged them to transfer funds from regulated super funds to selfmanaged super funds and then converted into cryptocurrency.
The regulator says the companies breached the Corporations Act by providing financial services without a licence.
Who's behind NGS?
The Australian called NGS Crypto's office line but it rang out. A series of questions were emailed to the company's generic email.
None of the directors have responded to social media messages or invitations to connect.
NGS Crypto was founded in 2018 according to its website, which lists Mr Mendham as a cofounder and director and Mr Brown as general manager. It is connected to another company domiciled in Hong Kong called NGS Group whose director is Mark Ten Caten and where Mr Brown also worked as a management team member according to his social media from 2015.
Mr Brown, 47, is listed as the sole director of NGS Digital.
NGS Digital's office registered office is located in the Brisbane CBD, at the same address as their accountants, Merrotts. But the company's principal place of business is linked with a rental property on the Gold Coast in Bloodwood Crescent, Molendinar. The owners of that property were contacted for comment.
They did not respond.
That address was also listed as a former place of business for another company Mr Brown is the sole director of, Rybro Investments Pty Ltd. The company's current principal place of business is a residential address in the Gold Coast suburb of Ashmore.
Mr Brown lives with his family in Ashmore, the Federal Court heard in April, but some company records suggest he lives at the Molendinar address.
Mr Brown was a self-employed stock trader between 2005 and 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He worked as an "operations manager" for Cash Converters based in Brisbane between 2011 and 2013 and as a business development manager for the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce between 2015 and 2016, before he joined NGS.
As for Mark Ten Caten, who seems to be at the helm of the group or so say Mr Brown and Mr Mendham he is believed to be living in Bali.
Under variations of his name, different company records show he previously held shares in Zenoz Labour which lists an address in Auckland. The address links to a Google street view of what looks like a car park in front of a law firm, Steindle Williams Legal.
Zenoz's website claims to provide "seamless access to a whole new class of digital assets, securely and compliantly".
Mr Caten, 48, was also listed as a former director of AP Financial Services based in Bali.
Mr Caten, born in NSW, who is the sole director of NGS Group which is domiciled in Hong Kong, says he has been involved in digital asset mining since 2013.
"Bitcoin was making waves back in 2013. I decided at this stage that it made sense, after considerable research and crunching the numbers, we could make more money in one week that we could in three months running a call centre," he said on LinkedIn.
Mr Mendham, 40, is the sole director of NGS Crypto. Company records show he also lives in Molendinar, Queensland. Some records report he is from Penrith, NSW. Others say Orange.
He has been listed as a director of companies that are now deregistered including World Binary Exchange between 2013 and 2015, Global Markets Australia, World Index Exchange and Ezyclick.
According to his LinkedIn profile, before Mr Mendham became involved in crypto, he was a director of "Mendo's landscaping concepts" between 2001 and 2003 and was the business owner of a furniture removals company.
"I am a father of four. I love being heavily involved in my children's lives and especially their sport. In 2013 after much thorough research I became involved in the crypto space and soon after delved into the mining of digital currencies."
Caption Text:
Ryan Brown (above left) and Brett Mendham. Below, the Gold Coast linked to NGS Digital
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