Geelong Man To Stand Trial
The Sunday Age
Sunday May 28, 2006
A FORMER champion athlete accused of ripping off more than $1 million from 13 Geelong families when refinancing their home loans will appear in court in July on 64 fraud charges.
Ron William Wynhoven, 49, who represented Victoria in the national junior track and field titles in the early 1970s, has pleaded not guilty to fraudulently inducing people to invest money, obtaining financial advantage by deception, breaching directors' duties and operating an unlicensed financial services business.Wynhoven, a former mortgage broker declared bankrupt in December 2005, allegedly encouraged people to refinance their home loans through his business, Seed Home Loans, and to use the equity they had built up in their homes to get even larger loans.The home owners were then allegedly encouraged to use this new debt to invest through Wynhoven's business.One of the investors claimed she had been cold-called by what she thought was a market research company but the caller was Wynhoven.He allegedly persuaded her to refinance her home through his company and to draw down an extra $200,000 to invest with him.Wynhoven allegedly used a similar strategy with others, promising that investment returns of between 12 and 15 per cent would meet the extra repayments needed for the bigger mortgage.The money was supposed to be used to provide bridging finance to property developers and construction companies in Geelong.But the Australian Securities and Investments Commission claims Wynhoven used clients' money to invest in speculative ventures in his own name, entered into a contract to buy a video store and used some of the money to pay personal expenses, including a loan on his own home. He allegedly invested in a company purported to be developing weather-altering technology and bought shares in a business that was developing warfare radar technology but has since ceased trading.In a statement released by ASIC, the corporate watchdog alleged Wynhoven:? Operated a financial services business without holding an Australian financial services licence;? Made a number of misrepresentations to clients about the nature of proposed investments, the level of risk involved, and anticipated high returns;? Used $493,829 of about $1 million invested by his clients to either financially support Seed Home Loans or to buy interests in investments in his own name or in the names of companies of which he was a director.In December 2003, ASIC obtained a Federal Court order to freeze the assets of Wynhoven's two companies - R. Wynhoven & Associates and Seed Finance - to stop Mr Wynhoven from receiving any further funds from investors.But in September 2004, ASIC claimed Wynhoven breached the injunction by receiving $12,000 from two investors. He subsequently pleaded guilty to contempt of court.His two companies were placed in liquidation, he was disqualified from acting as a company director for five years, and he was banned from participating in the financial services industry. Wynhoven has been committed to stand trial and is due to appear in the Geelong County Court on July 3.
© 2006 The Sunday Age