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The ABC has traced a licensed investment scheme that vanished across the globe and found its enigmatic CEO may have links to terrorism.
It's sparked concerns about deep flaws in Australia's financial regulatory regime with fears the scheme was effectively given a licence to scam.
Investors may have lost up to $138 million due to broader failures in Australia's regulatory regime, it's understood.
The ABC is aware of at least a dozen Australians, who lost more than $2 million to Main Group FX, a licensed commodities trading platform supposedly with headquarters in Sydney and Cyprus.
Australian cricket legend Shane Watson was the company's ambassador (who said he has since cut ties with the group and wasn't involved in its management) and it even hosted a cocktail party in Sydney's CBD.
But eventually the website disappeared, staff became uncontactable and customers could no longer receive returns or recover their initial investment.
An address in the Caribbean was buried deep in company documents, which is notorious for allegedly being a base for dubious investment schemes around the world.
Main Group's chief executive is 32-year-old Egyptian Karim Farag Mohamed Abdelhamid. His cryptocurrency wallet appeared on a seizure list put out by Israel in 2024 over allegedly providing money to Dubai Company for Exchange. The US has deemed the entity a terrorist organisation for supporting Hamas, which in turn is deemed a terrorist group by many nations, including Australia.
It is not known whether Mr Farag knew of the company's links to Hamas, or what the extent of his involvement was, if any, and he has denied wrongdoing.
Australia's corporate regulator is investigating MGF Capital, the Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) provider that gave Main Group legitimacy by making it an authorised representative.
The ABC understands Australians may have lost as much as $138 million from financial products they believed were being offered by multiple authorised representatives under the umbrella of MGF Capital.
ASIC said it "is concerned many investors may have been exposed to significant financial losses".
MGF Capital's sole director, Sydney man Matthew Starkey, denied any due diligence failures had occurred. A letter from his lawyer said it's critical to distinguish between the actual Main Group FX and the people, who allegedly impersonated the group for the provision of scam services.
One Australian investor has made a complaint to the Australia Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
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Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/main-group-fx-boss-with-possible-links-to-terrorism/107159102
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