The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) announced today (Thursday) that it has obtained a bankruptcy order against social media “finfluencer” Tyson Scholz who went by the name ‘ASX Wolf’. The order was received as Scholz failed to pay the regulator AU$456,296.64 ordered by the court.
“ASIC sought the sequestrations orders after Mr Scholz failed to pay costs ordered by the Federal Court of Australia relating to proceedings brought by ASIC in December 2021,” the regulator stated.
Bust of a ‘Finfluencer’
Scholz provided trading courses and seminars on ASX-listed equities. In addition, he offered to share purchase recommendations on private online forums and Instagram where he had more than 20,000 followers.
He regularly posted photos of expensive cars with the license plates' ASX Bull' and photos of costly boats. He used these posts as bait for his trading courses and seminars.
The Aussie regulator initially took action against Scholz in 2022 for “carrying on a financial services business” without an Australian financial services license between March 2020 and November 2021. It was seen across the industry as a crackdown on unlicensed ‘finfluencers’.
The regulatory action came after it threatened unlicensed ‘finfluencers’ with possible jail terms and penalties of up to AU$1 million and cautioned Aussie companies from associating with such unlicensed finfluencers.
ASIC Sought the Cost of Proceedings
The Aussie court made permanent injunction against Scholz in April 2023, prohibiting him from conducting any financial services business in the country. The court ordered Scholz to pay the regulator the costs of the proceedings, which were assessed and fixed on a lump sum basis in the amount of AU$456,296.64.
“Following Mr Scholz’s failure to pay this amount, ASIC served a Bankruptcy Notice on 25 July 2023 on Mr Scholz and then filed a Creditor’s Petition in the Federal Court on 18 October 2023,” the regulator said. ”The Petition was heard on 22 February 2024, and the Court made sequestration orders against Mr Scholz. The effect of the orders is to make Mr Scholz bankrupt.”
