Motor racing legend Alan Jones linked to serial conman Peter Foster
Australian motor racing legend Alan Jones has become embroiled in the collapse of an online gambling company operated by notorious conman Peter Foster which owes $11.5 million to about 150 investors.
The 69-year-old former winner of the Formula One Drivers’ Championship was named in a writ to be lodged in the NSW Supreme Court that alleges Mr Jones was engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct” while employed by Sports Trading Club.
It is also understood that Mr Jones was recently served with a freezing order, amid allegations that Foster used business associates and relatives to transfer more than $11 million to offshore tax havens, including Hong Kong, Vanuatu and the Cayman Islands.
Mr Jones denied he was aware Foster was the mastermind behind Sports Trading Club. He told Fairfax Media he had been “duped” into accepting an ambassadorial role with the company.
Mr Jones confirmed he had spoken with a man called “Mark Hughes”, but terminated his arrangement with Sports Trading Club when he discovered he had been dealing with the infamous scammer.
Last month, Foster was freed from a Queensland prison after serving one year of an 18-month sentence, in a surprise decision that was suppressed by the Federal Court in Brisbane.
But the conman faces a raft of new charges, with NSW Police’s Taskforce Apron investigating allegations of fraud and money laundering linked to his failed online gaming business.
More than 150 investors in Sports Trading Club have launched legal action against Foster and 10 associated individuals and corporations in a bid to recoup $11.5 million funnelled offshore.
The class action has appointed lawyers in Sydney and Hong Kong, while international fraud investigator Ken Gamble was also involved in a two-year investigation into Foster’s key role at Sports Trading Club.
The company received investments between $50,000 and $250,000 and claimed to deliver a 1900 per cent return to Australian clients between January 2013 and June 2014. The business collapsed when Foster was arrested in Byron Bay in October 2014.
Last week, Fairfax Media revealed Foster and at least eight associates had been served with freezing orders, including his niece, Arabella Louise Foster, and high-profile Sydney lawyer Leigh Johnson.
Corporate records reveal Ms Foster, a 29-year-old designer based in Brisbane, was linked to Hong Kong company Sports Trading Club Limited, while she also controls more than $6 million in accounts in Vanuatu, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.
It is understood that most of the funds were transferred overseas from a Westpac account associated with Sports Trading Club in Australia.
Several other companies controlled by Ms Foster were set up in the British Virgin Islands, which are also believed to have been used as a corporate front for her uncle, who has a string of fraud convictions over the past 30 years.
Foster, who has served prison sentences in the US, Britain, Vanuatu and Australia, was banned by the Federal Court in 2005 from any involvement in the weight-loss industry.
