Inside ASIC

Episode 44: Former financial adviser Gabriel Nakhl sentenced to 10 years imprisonment

Inside ASIC

Show Notes

Mr Nakhl engaged in dishonest conduct and was found guilty in the District Court of New South Wales. The court set Mr Nakhl a non-parole period of 6 years. View the ASIC media release (19-055MR) for more information Mr Nakhl was convicted on eight charges (18-178MR), brought by ASIC, of engaging in dishonest conduct with investor funds. The conduct affected 12 investors while Mr Nakhl was a representative of Australian Financial Services Limited (in liquidation) and as sole director of SydFA Pty Ltd (deregistered). The court found Mr Nakhl advised clients to set up self-managed superannuation funds and to invest their superannuation and other funds in products such as shares, managed funds and high interest rate bank accounts. Rather than investing the 12 investors’ funds in these products, Mr Nakhl used these funds 'as he pleased' and for his own purposes. Mr Nakhl then lied to the investors, telling them that he had invested their funds in accordance with his advice and that their investments were performing well. Mr Nakhl also tried to cover up his wrongdoing by having these 12 investors sign documents that supposedly authorised Mr Nakhl to use the funds in the way he did. These 12 investors allowed Mr Nakhl to invest approximately $6.7 million on their behalf. Mr Nakhl lost approximately $5.1 million of these invested funds.

More from Inside ASIC

Jul 8, 2025

The podcast Inside ASIC this week puts scammers squarely in ASIC’s cross hairs. As artificial intelligence becomes more prolific in modern society, scammers are using the tool to produce highly convincing scams that leave even the experts second-guessing. The Commission’s taken down more than 10,000 investment scam websites and online advertisements and we are continuing to do a big piece of work to ensure banks are protecting consumers.  In this episode of Inside ASIC we caught up with:

Jun 24, 2025

In our latest podcast episode Inside ASIC we look at some of the big issues with insurance after recent devastating natural disasters in Australia. We dive into a report ASIC’s just released about what insurers need to do to lift their game and look at why the loss of a home or property is just the start of what can be a long and stressful battle for Australians to rebuild disrupted lives. In this episode of Inside ASIC we caught up with:

Jun 17, 2025

What is our corporate regulator doing specifically to drive positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? In this episode of Inside ASIC we’re going to be looking at some of the work being driven by the specialist Indigenous Outreach Program team within ASIC. It’s not work that gets a lot of attention in the national media - but it’s a critical piece of what the Commission does when serious financial harm is at stake.

Jun 10, 2025

There are a host of companies making claims about their environmental credentials. For ASIC this has been a serious focus as many financial products like super funds have made green claims about how they invest… but simply can’t stack them up. Vanguard Investments Australia was ordered to pay a record $12.9 million penalty for making misleading claims, Mercer Super was ordered to pay $11.3 million, and Active Super copped a penalty of $10.5 million for greenwashing misconduct. This episode features:

Jun 4, 2025

We might just be witnessing a really fundamental change in Australia’s financial markets to the the rise of private markets. Through superannuation investments, many Australians have indirect exposure to private assets. Private markets operate differently than public markets and are inherently less transparent.  In this episode of Inside ASIC we are all about understanding private versus public markets. Why it matters - and what’s the role of our corporate regulator when these deals are being done behind closed doors, with:

See all episodes →