10 May 2018

A Christchurch man has pleaded guilty to fraud in relation to a sophisticated Ponzi scheme masked as a foreign exchange brokerage.

Jimmie Kevin McNicholl, the director of Arena Capital Limited which traded as BlackfortFX, pleaded guilty to obtaining the registration as a financial services provider by deception at the Christchurch District Court.

Arena Capital used the illegally obtained financial services provider registration to give the impression that BlackfortFX was a legitimate forex trading platform but no trading was ever undertaken. About 900 people invested approximately $8.3 million into what was in fact Ponzi scheme.

The Serious Fraud Office has also charged Lance Jack Ryan, also known as Lance Jared Thompson, with fraud in relation to the matter.

Mr Ryan has maintained a plea of not guilty in respect to obtaining registration of BlackfortFX as a financial service provider by deception, but has pleaded guilty to charges of ‘False accounting’, ‘Forgery’, ‘Reproducing documents with intent to deceive’ and ‘Theft by person in special relationship’.

Mr McNicholl and Mr Ryan are scheduled for sentencing at Christchurch District Court on 20 June.

The SFO acknowledges the assistance of the Financial Markets Authority in this investigation.

ENDS

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