The subject line on the financial adviser’s email was “Term deposit rates”. But the investment pamphlet attached to the email was not anything like depositing money in a government-guaranteed Australian bank.

The 23-page information memorandum was about an investment note for biotechnology outfit iQ Group, which had sponsored Bathurst race cars and had bought a $1.2 million yacht. The note, decorated with pictures of blue life-science cells, was offering investors whopping returns of up to 15 per cent annually.