ASIC has banned another Shield and First Guardian-linked adviser for allegedly presenting Statements of Advice in the names of other advisers.
ASIC announced on Thursday that Aristotle Papapavlou has been permanently banned for his complicity in an advice process where he knew that Venture Egg financial advisers were dealing with clients on behalf of other advisers of the firm, and that Statements of Advice were being presented in his name, or in the names of other financial advisers, to clients that neither he nor the other financial advisers had ever met.
ASIC also said Papapavlou knew unlicensed third-party referrers were presenting SOAs to clients and that he pursued his own interests by receiving remuneration for recommending Shield and First Guardian over the interests of providing independent advice to clients that was in their best interest.
ASIC further alleged Papapavlou was complicit in a high-volume advice process at Venture Egg, that included unlicensed third-party referrers completing client fact finds, and resulted in those clients being advised to roll over their superannuation into Shield and First Guardian.
The regulator said Papapavlou was banned for dishonest, misleading and unprofessional conduct, and that he demonstrated a lack of competence and judgement while operating as a financial adviser.
It’s the second banning by ASIC involving allegations that advisers were impersonating other advisers on SOAs after an investigation by Professional Planner revealed last year the regulator was aware that Shield and First Guardian-linked SOAs from InterPrac may have been falsely signed by the firms involved.
ASIC announced last month that Nicholas Hogan had been similarly banned for engaging in misleading, deceptive and unprofessional conduct by impersonating other advisers, knowingly having SOAs prepared by others in his name, and presenting SOAs in the name of other advisers to clients of Venture Egg and Reilly Financial, with limited interaction between himself and the clients.
Venture Egg was led by Ferras Merhi whom ASIC has treated as one of the advisers central to the distribution of Shield and First Guardian.
Merhi, who was an authorised representative for InterPrac at Venture Egg, also ran Financial Services Group Australia which was self-licensed (since cancelled by ASIC). InterPrac had ceased authorising Merhi in May 2025.
ASIC has alleged Merhi signed 6000 Statements of Advice within a three-year period and used marketing companies to push potential clients to his financial advice businesses while receiving nearly $18 million in upfront advice fees and $19 million from entities associated with the funds to market them.
The regulator also alleged that Merhi falsely represented that he had no vested interest in recommending the funds.
The Federal Court ordered Venture Egg and United Financial Advice, both firms run by Merhi, be wound up.
InterPrac is being sued by ASIC for due diligence failures relating to Merhi and Reilly Financial for their distribution of the Shield and First Guardian funds.
The ASX-listed parent company of InterPrac, Sequoia Financial Group, sold the struggling licensee to little-known Conquest Investment Partners for $50,000; ASIC has since intervened in the sale.
Investments in Shield and First Guardian grew due to a sophisticated network of lead generators that contacted people who used online “superannuation health check” advertisements and high-pressure sales tactics to refer them to financial advisers.
ASIC acted against the Shield and First Guardian funds over concerns investor money was being misused on high-risk investments, pet projects of directors and personal expenses, and court proceedings against both funds are ongoing.
