Chris Marco: Former Nedlands fund manager who ran multi-million dollar Ponzi fraud scheme learns fate

A former western suburbs fund manager has been jailed for 14 years after running of one of WA’s biggest investment frauds. Chris Marco fought 43 fraud charges at a five-week Supreme Court trial but the jury found him guilty on all counts in September after four days of deliberations. The court was told how the 67-year-old promised high returns from sophisticated private placements, from swanky offices on Broadway in Nedlands decorated with suits of armour. But the cash was pooled in his Westpac accounts and simply “recirculated”, with new funds used to pay out earlier investors. Prosecutor Steven Whybrow said every client was encouraged to “roll over” their “illusory” returns in the Ponzi scheme. One of them, Andrew Batchelar, testified how he was encouraged to see his first investment bear fruit handsomely, so funnelled it into another investment, then another. In total, Marco raked in $253 million and sent just $11m overseas for investments towards the very end of the seven-and-a-half year scam. That represented only 4.4 per cent of the funds clients had handed him, Justice Natalie Whitby said. Marco splashed $21m on houses, rare muscle cars including a 1971 Ford XY Falcon GT-HO, collectables and personal expenses. A little over $198m was paid back to his clients in interest and redemptions before the Australian Securities and Investments Commission closed down the scheme in 2018. But the money was obtained deceptively in the first place and the repayments were “a fundamental part of the ongoing ruse” making his clients “believe the pot of gold exists”, Mr Whybrow said. “He simply disregarded what he was telling people in order to get their money,” the prosecutor said. “From his perspective, the end justified the means.” Marco thought “he was going to come up with a jackpot at some point” and even told The West Australian that investors only lost money because ASIC interrupted, Mr Whybrow said. Justice Whitby said the offending was extremely serious, persistent and large scale, involving a gross breach of trust. Marco had presented himself as a successful private investor who had “access to exclusive programs not available to the general public”, she said. But he knew his representations were false and had no intention of using the cash as he’d claimed he would, losing the six victims who took part in the trial a whopping $34.3m. “You were paying their returns from their own and other investors’ funds,” Justice Whitby said. “You intended to defraud each victim. “You knew that you were investing hard-earned money. You told them things that were not true in order to obtain their money.” Victims described how they would never recover, no matter how hard they worked, and were left feeling distrustful, humiliated and ashamed, the judge said. “That shame, however, is yours, not theirs,” she said. Mr Batchelar delivered his victim impact statement via videolink, saying he was working 14-16 hour days at his east coast insurance underwriting firm rather than enjoying a peaceful retirement as he should be. “This fraud has not just stolen my financial future but my childrens’ foundation for theirs,” he said. Marco’s “calculated lies ... greed and deceit” had also destroyed relationships and caused prolonged stress that had a physiological impact, Mr Batchelar said. He said he would lodge an application for compensation in coming days. Defence counsel Luka Margaretic said however misguided, his client “was a true believer” in the placements and was “attempting” to make investments. He said assessing parties’ losses would not be known until associated matters before the courts, including litigation against Westpac, were finalised. “The issue of restitution is somewhat problematic,” the lawyer said. “It is quite a convoluted landscape.” Marco will be eligible for parole after serving 12 years. Outside court, Mr Margaretic said Marco would appeal both conviction and sentence, adding he had “not seen anything like it in 35 years of practice”. “We very confident of appeal prospects,” the lawyer said. He said his client was “obviously not doing very well at all” after hearing his jail term. A friend of Marco’s named Vince, who did not provide his surname, told reporters said it was “very tough” hearing the sentencing. “It’s just a bit of a joke, actually,” he said. Vince said Marco’s cars and real estate were “investments” and not “for his personal use”. Marco’s co-accused and former executive assistant Linda Anne Marissen was acquitted of all 17 counts of fraud against her.