This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE corporate watchdog has obtained orders from the Federal Court to freeze the assets of property developer Sasha Hopkins and his A Team Property Group.
McGrathNicol was appointed by the Court as receivers and managers assets held by Hopkins, A Team Property and Sash Investment Holdings.
Hopkins and A Team develop property in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
The orders follow an investigation by The Australian Financial Review that showed 130 investors are chasing $23.5 million of unpaid loans and interest from six collapsed companies linked to Hopkins. It comes after Hopkins was awarded the AFR’s #1 Fastest Growing Company in Australia 2020.
He is alleged to have told investors they could expect guaranteed returns from the joint venture property developments of 25 to 50% over the life of the development, which was typically forecast to be between 18 and 24 months.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) alleges Hopkins has been carrying on a financial services business without a licence by providing personal advice to investors, which included advising investors to rollover their superannuation into self-managed superannuation funds and using the rolled over superannuation to invest in property developments; been operating an unregistered managed investment scheme that ought to have been registered; and misused investor funds, including converting investor funds into crypto assets.
Justice Beach ordered that A Team, Sash Investment Holdings and Hopkins’ assets be frozen, that they disclose their existing assets to the Court and that a receiver be appointed to Hopkins’ cryptocurrency assets.
On the last day of May, Hopkins was ordered to surrender his passport and be restrained from leaving Australia, before the Court amended the travel restraint order on Monday, permitting Hopkins to travel to Europe between 10th June and 13th July this year.
Hopkins is the sole shareholder, director and company secretary of A Team and Sash Investment Holdings.
Since late 2014, Hopkins is, or has been, the director of 46 companies. ASIC believes that Hopkins and/or associated companies are carrying on or have carried on as many as 28 property developments. ASIC said it believes that at least six of these companies, which were placed into liquidation in 2021, were involved in 10 property developments.
