The Gold Coast start-up collapsed in 2017 owing 3000 investors $180 million, but the actions against accountants whose clients bought into the stock have sputtered out.
The path to losing $100,000 started in the summer of 2014 at a two-storey accountancy several blocks from the surf break of Duranbah at northern NSW’s Tweed Heads.
The service streamed artists from Lady Gaga to Coldplay. It differed itself from subscription-based rivals such as Spotify by focusing on a free model earning advertising revenue.There were operations in Australia, Asia and the US, and featured advertisers such as Smirnoff and Hungry Jack’s. Guvera was also bleeding millions of dollars and cutting related-party deals, but that detail was less prominent in annual reports, whose covers pictured fashionable youngsters listening to music.
Yet Oculus’ defence is adamant that material, such as the video and documentation they allege was provided – a disputed issue was whether they received a prospectus – carried multiple disclaimers. Oculus further said Fenton had warned the couple “this is a high-risk investment, you should only invest what you can afford to lose”. Typically, it’s a licensed financial adviser canvassing products.
The court branded these acts “exploitative and manipulative”. Messer was awarded $6.6 million. The judgment noted his accountants were Vince and Corina Cook, of Summit Financial Services, and said Vince had introduced the farmer to Amma in 2012. For the couple investing in Guvera, the accountants told them a family trust was tax effective for distributing any profits. They plunged ahead with an investment.
Such trust structures came under glare in July 2017 in ASIC letters to big industry associations: the Institute of Public Accountants, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and CPA Australia. ASIC’s letters cited Amma, Guvera and Kwickie – another start-up that Amma promoted – flagging concern that structures were used to “circumvent” prohibitions on offering shares to non-sophisticated investors without disclosure documents.
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