Renato De Maria, the sole director of Alliance Management Group Pty Ltd, formerly Alliance Insurance Broking Services Pty Ltd (AIBS), has appeared in the Mansfield Magistrates Court charged with criminal offences relating to the misuse of approximately $35 million of client monies.

ASIC alleges that between July 2016 and April 2021, Mr De Maria used his position as director of AIBS dishonestly, by misusing monies held in trust accounts on behalf of AIBS clients, by:

authorising three withdrawals totalling $7.9 million which were ultimately transferred back to Mr De Maria via a third party and thereby contravening s184(2) of the Corporations Act;
issuing inflated insurance invoices totalling over $4 million to four separate clients and thereby contravening ss1041G of the Act; and
transferring over $24 million between an AIBS trust account and other accounts controlled by Mr De Maria and thereby contravening s184(2) of the Act.
Mr De Maria will next appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 28 June 2023.

The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation by ASIC.