POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
SIS Act prosecution on SMSF trustee
The Superannuation Industry Supervision (SIS) Act has been successfully used to undertake a prosecution relating to a self-managed superannuation fund.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) together with the Australian Taxation Office has broken new ground by successfully pursuing legal action against a self-managed superannuation fund trustee under the SIS Act.
A Sydney man, Atan Ona Kassongo, pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the regulator and pursued by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The SIS Act is generally used with respect to larger superannuation fund entities.
ASIC said that it had pursued the action against Kassongo on the basis that he had allegedly dishonestly failed to ensure that a self managed fund known as the Kassongo Superannuation Fund (KSF) was maintained in accordance with the sole purpose test.
ASIC alleged that the preserved superannuation benefits of 192 superannuates totalling $4,055,043 were deposited into the bank accounts of the fund.
It was alleged that these funds were rolled over from 56 complying superannuation funds and that Kassongo then used KSF to obtain early access to these benefits by withdrawing and distributing the funds to the superannuants and agents engaged by him to assist in the early release scheme.
It said that Kassongo had retained over $600,000 for himself by way of commission.
ASIC in January initiated civil proceedings against Kassongo following allegations he was involved in the operation of an unlicensed financial services business offering people early access to their superannuation funds.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
The impact of identity theft and its threat to superannuation savings were highlighted in a case that went before the Federal Court at the end of 2023.
A recent NSW Supreme Court decision is an important reminder that while super funds may be subject to restrictive superannuation and tax laws, in essence they are still a trust and subject to equitable and common law claims, says a legal expert.
New research from the University of Adelaide has found SMSFs outperformed APRA funds by more than 4 per cent in 2021–22.
The SMSF Association has made a number of policy recommendations for the superannuation sector in its pre-budget submission to the government.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
76.97 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
76.46 3 y p.a(%)
3
UBS Solactive Global Pure Gold Miners UCITS ETF Dis USD
51.13 3 y p.a(%)
4
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
45.15 3 y p.a(%)
5
Select Baker steel Gold Institutional
43.78 3 y p.a(%)
