A group of 76 investors in Mayfair 101 Group’s products has issued a statement alleging incompetence displayed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has destroyed their financial futures due to its actions against the fund manager.
“ASIC’s actions are a national disgrace and have impacted every one of us. We are calling ASIC out for what they have done. Many of us went to the court trial in Melbourne from 2024 to 2025. We saw ASIC try very hard to make [Mayfair 101 Group managing director James] Mawhinney look bad, which is an attack on us and our financial well-being,” the investors said in a statement.
According to the consumer cohort, the opening last week of a cafe on Dunk Island by Annie Cannon-Brookes on infrastructure they helped fund proved Mayfair was a real business with real projects, not a “Ponzi scheme” like ASIC claimed. The statement goes on to outline how the site would have opened in 2020 had the regulator not taken legal action.
In its most recent findings, the Federal Court found Mawhinney was associated with or involved in contraventions of the law by entities associated with the organisation.
However, the court disagreed with the corporate watchdog’s belief the Mayfair 101 Group companies claimed the M+ Fixed Income Notes and M Core Fixed Income Notes were comparable to bank term deposits and that trusts associated with Mawhinney received amounts traceable to funds invested in the M Core Fixed Income Notes.
The 76 investors alleged since the regulator started its first action against Mayfair in April 2020 on the basis the public had been misled into thinking the note products had a similar risk profile to a bank deposit, the injunctions ASIC obtained as a result “financially and reputationally debilitated Mayfair”.
“ASIC misrepresented Mayfair’s business and Mr Mawhinney’s character to get court orders that stopped Mayfair from operating in 2020. They abandoned those claims, then conjured up new ones, after causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage, in an attempt to cover their mistaken campaign,” the statement said.
They also alleged the regulator told the Federal Court they needed Mawhinney to remain in the country so they could interview him, but no interviews were conducted. ASIC’s allegation to the court, since abandoned, that some noteholders were offered “first mortgage security” was also false, according to the statement.
In a list of 11 facts the investors want on the public record, they said: “We made loans to Mayfair. The reason we haven’t been paid back is because ASIC has made it virtually impossible for Mayfair to rebuild.”
They also indicated they were happy with Mayfair 101 until the ASIC action started and no proof anyone had complained about the fund manager had been presented.
“ASIC has damaged our trust in Australia’s financial system. They told the court things that weren’t true and have ruined people’s lives,” the investors stated.
“We want justice and we want this to end. We are calling ASIC out for their appalling conduct and reprehensible actions against Mayfair 101.”
