A former Australian banker accused of defrauding investors in California and Aspen before moving to Bali has been holidaying in Australia and asking for funds, despite being pursued by authorities in the United States.
In public documents, the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Andrew Waters, a former investment banker, of reeling in wealthy investors by inviting them to dinner and befriending them, then selling them “worthless” shares in a company called ECom Products Group Corporation.
Andrew Waters, who is accused of defrauding investors through his company ECom Products Group Corporation, at his current home in Bali.
The regulator, which has been attempting to locate Mr Waters and his wife Helen, alleged in a civil penalty case that he had been continuing to solicit funds from investors since he left the US. They are not facing criminal charges.
Mr Waters, 59, and Ms Waters, 47, managed to convince well-heeled residents of Aspen and Montecito to invest in EPGC, according to the regulator’s filings with a California court.
Mr Waters told The Australian Financial Review he had been to Australia twice since leaving the US. Two people familiar with one of his trips said he was attempting to start a new business selling electric scooters.
Asked whether he had been talking to investors about a new business, Mr Waters said it was “not correct”.
In September, the businessman denied the allegations and said he had been hounded out of the US by a former adviser to Donald Trump who had used his connections to set the securities regulator on him.
‘Ponzi scheme’
“It must be the dumber [and] dumber Ponzi scheme if [it was] one,” he said at the time.
That was a reference to Stephen Calk, a Chicago banker and the former chairman of The Federal Savings Bank who went on to become an adviser to Mr Trump during his presidential run. Mr Calk alleges that he lost $US540,000 before raising a complaint with the SEC.
The SEC allegations are a long way from Waters’ previous life, as a former chairman of Hong Kong-headquartered investment bank First Capital Partners, through which he partnered with wealthy businessman Peter Scanlon to invest in a cash card company in China. That business, OneCard, secured investment from billionaires Richard Pratt and James Packer.
The SEC alleges that the Water couple defrauded at least 20 investors, receiving more than $US1.3 million ($2 million) from the scheme. The couple allegedly spent $US94,113 on two Land Rovers, $US378,470 on renting luxury homes, and $US29,516 on horse-riding lessons. Mr Waters had also previously raised funds from Australian investors, the SEC said.
“Such expenditures enabled Waters and his wife to maintain their lavish lifestyle and thereby make contact with the next round of victims,” the SEC alleged in its court filings, suggesting they had moved to Bali shortly after.
“Interviews with witnesses on the island, an email from Waters himself, and social media posts from family members, confirm that he resides [in Bali] with his family, has planted roots, and has even joined the local horseback riding club,” the US regulator said in an earlier filing.
Since arriving in Bali, the Waters have posted social media posts of dining at scenic restaurants, swimming and horseriding. “The SEC recently conducted phone interviews of two Dutch businessmen residing in Bali who were approached by Waters to make an investment in EPGC,” the SEC said.