Source : THE AGE NEWS
One Macquarie Place in Sydney is home to the equal oldest public park in Australia and an office tower with views that scream money and prestige. To the left, the Sydney Harbour Bridge; to the right, the Opera House; directly below, Circular Quay.
The 36th floor of the Gateway Building is a natural home for a firm such as Capital Guard, which bills itself as “a team of dedicated financial experts with a passion for helping individuals and businesses achieve their growth potential.”
More than 800 kilometres away lies Wollert, an outer north Melbourne suburb home to a concrete quarry, a landfill that accepts asbestos, and the only person named as Capital Guard’s director and shareholder, a Mark Anthony Tasiyan.
More than distance divides the two locations. One represents how Capital Guard presented itself to investors. The other, some of the troubling questions that have emerged about its reality.
In paid articles on Business News Australia, Broker Daily and MacroBusiness, Capital Guard positioned itself as an authority on prudent investing. Capital Guard “shares how investors can evaluate this risk [of bond default] effectively,” it wrote in one piece.
On its website, which was available until late last week, the company told customers that it had held an Australian Financial Services License since 2017, and warned them, like many major financial institutions, that impostors had been claiming to act on its behalf. “Please be aware of scammers posing as Capital Guard,” read the notice.
But according to a finding from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, investors should have been taking a closer look at Capital Guard itself. On Thursday, the commission cancelled Capital Guard’s licence, which its management had essentially bought along with the company in 2024.
In a statement posted online, ASIC said it had found that Capital Guard had used fake documents purporting to be from Macquarie Bank to obtain at least $100,000 from investors “for a bond that did not exist”. It also “made misleading or deceptive statements on its website, including misrepresenting its experience and altering scam warnings about it that were issued by third parties and provided false documents to an auditor, amounting to dishonest conduct.”
Even Capital Guard’s purported office location – stated both on its website and in corporate documents – does not appear to have been a full-time address for any staff. Level 36 of the Gateway Building is occupied by ServCorp, a company that offers co-working, serviced offices and “virtual offices” which combine occasional access with mail and phone call forwarding.
“Our address becomes your business address – to use on your website and business collateral,” ServCorp tells prospective clients. It also offers a “local phone number answered by a dedicated receptionist the way you like and extended to you wherever you are.”
Calls to Capital Guard immediately after the ASIC announcement initially went through to a cheerful receptionist, who offered to pass on an inquiry. But the phone was soon redirected to an automated message, followed by an answering machine.
“If your call is relating to the recent ASIC announcement, please reach out to [the Australian Financial Complaints Authority] and ASIC resources for further assistance,” the automated message says. “Thank you.”
By Monday, Capital Guard’s slick website was offline. ServCorp did not respond to multiple requests for comment, or confirm whether Capital Guard was a client. Asked about how many complaints against Capital Guard it had received, the authority pointed to an online database it maintains, which is updated only monthly, and showed none.
Tasiyan also appears elusive. On Friday morning, there was no answer at his door in Wollert, about 40 minutes north of the Melbourne CBD. The street, where Tasiyan lists his address at the first of five identical two-level townhouses, was deserted, with no cars passing for more than an hour. Neighbours interviewed by this masthead reported that they did not know Tasiyan, and said the occupant of the home kept to himself.
Property documents confirm he and a woman who shares his surname are the owners. An email to an address associated with Tasiyan was not returned. He did not respond to a LinkedIn message or to messages left with Capital Guard.
In its media release, the corporate regulator said: “ASIC’s investigation into Capital Guard remains ongoing.”
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Nick Bonyhady is the business editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a former deputy federal editor, technology editor and industrial relations reporter.Connect via X or email.
Nick Toscano is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
