Panacea Capital Boss Brian Creigh Can Never Give Financial Advice, Australian Regulator Rules
Brian Creagh has been banned from working in the Australian financial services sector. Photo by Sai Abhinivesh Burla on Unsplash.
Key Takeaways
- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned Brian Creigh from working in the financial services sector.
- Creigh operated the Panacea crypto fund without the necessary training or license, ASIC fund.
- Panacea customers lost $5 Million because Creigh fell for a crypto investment scam.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned the director of Panacea Capital, Brian Creigh, from working in the financial services sector.
For his role operating the unlicensed Panacea Capital Cryptocurrency Investment Fund, Creigh has been permanently banned from providing financial services or being involved in a financial service business.
Crypto Fund Manager’s Lies Exposed
Following an investigation into Panacea’s crypto fund, ASIC found Creigh didn’t have the necessary license. This was despite him telling investors that he did.
Accusing the Panacea boss of “misleading and deceptive conduct,” the regulator pointed to a number of erroneous claims he made about the fund.
Namely, Creigh falsely asserted that the organisation was providing a capital guarantee on investor’s contributions. He also lied about how long the fund had been operating while promising unrealistic target returns of 120% to 150%.
Finally, the regulator claims that Creigh was one of only two Panacea employees. However, the company was marketed as a boutique investment firm with a team of experienced analysts.
Panacea Investors Lose $5 Million
According to ASIC, Panacea Capital’s customers lost $7.7 million AUS (approximately $5 million USD) because of Creigh’s decision to invest their money in the fraudulent Liquid Assets Group (LAG) fund.
The Commission found that Creigh “failed to react to warning signs that he was dealing with scammers”. This situation, it said, might have been avoided if Panacea had been run by licensed and trained financial advisors.
The regulator said Creigh was “not a fit and proper person to engage in financial services”. This was because, it said “he acted dishonestly and with a lack of integrity, trustworthiness and judgment”.
