Former Financial Services Director Sentenced for $940,000 Fraud in Australia

​Mark Francis McCabe of Roseville, New South Wales, a former financial services director, was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court at Sydney on May 16, 2025, to four years and three months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months. The sentencing relates to three fraud offences to which Mr. McCabe pleaded guilty on September 13, 2024, for dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, contrary to s192E(1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). Four additional offences were taken into account during the sentencing.

Between January 2015 and April 2021, Mr. McCabe was found to have dishonestly obtained a financial advantage from eight victims, seven of whom were clients of Guevara Capital Access Pty Ltd (GCA) and/or Online Trading Capital Pty Ltd (OTC), both of which are now deregistered companies of which Mr. McCabe was the sole director.

The court heard that Mr. McCabe made dishonest and deceptive representations to investors, including claims that he, through GCA and/or OTC, would provide - or had already provided - them with access to Forex trading accounts on a third-party platform, along with specific amounts of "capital" within these accounts. Contrary to these representations, Mr. McCabe only provided investors with "test" foreign exchange trading accounts that were not capable of placing real foreign exchange trades. Investors used these "test" accounts believing they were conducting genuine trading, but no actual trading occurred. Instead of utilizing payments made by investors for funded foreign exchange trading accounts or for engaging in trading on their behalf, Mr. McCabe misappropriated the investors' funds. He used these funds for his own benefit, covering business and personal expenses such as rental payments, private school fees, and various credit card purchases. The total financial advantage dishonestly obtained by Mr. McCabe amounted to $940,350.

The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following an investigation and referral by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The maximum penalty for an offence of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception under s192E(1)(b) of the Crimes Act is 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of $110,000.