ASIC freezes assets of financial adviser turned comedian
A former financial adviser who doubles as a comedian has had his assets frozen and been barred from leaving the country as the regulator investigates fees charged to client superannuation accounts.
Last month, David Mario Valvo of Sydney was ordered by the Federal Court to surrender his passport while his assets and those of his business, Your Financial Freedom, were frozen.
ASIC is investigating fees charged to the super funds of Valvo's former clients between January 2015 and September 2021.
It's previously been reported that Valvo is alleged to have faked client signatures, including sticky taping them to authorisation forms, to illegally obtain as much as $750,000.
Interestingly, Valvo was the victim of a scam himself during this time.
In 2019 Valvo told A Current Affair how he lost $50,000 through a fake trading platform. According to his interview with A Current Affair, some of his loved ones including his wife and best friend also lost money.
He told the program that he had been "in the [financial planning] game for 35 years" and if an "influential financial adviser" like him couldn't spot a scam then "Joe Blow out there hasn't got a hope in hell".
According to ASIC's Financial Adviser Register, Valvo was licensed by NextGen Financial Group at the time of the alleged conduct.
In September 2021 he moved to We Are Gen Y before ceasing on December 30, 2021.
Valvo's ASIC FAR record dates back to 2007 when he was licensed through Insignia Platforms - no relation to Insignia Financial.
It also shows that in 2019 and 2020 Valvo failed to meet the annual CPD requirements of 40 hours.
ASIC's investigation is ongoing and the next hearing in the case is set for September 29.
The regulator is asking that anyone who had super invested with Valvo or his business and who have concerns about fees paid come forward.
The website for Your Financial Freedom now simply bears an image of Valvo and contact details, describing him as a comedian.
A separate website shows he works as an MC, comedian and impressionist and describes Valvo as "the Man of a Thousand Voices".
This article first appeared on Financial Standard
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