Accused trade fraudster refused bail over flight risk concerns

A financial trader accused of defrauding investors of almost $1 million has pleaded to be released on bail almost two-and-a-half years after he was extradited to Queensland.

A financial trader accused of defrauding investors of almost $1 million has pleaded to be released on bail almost two-and-a-half years after he was arrested in Poland and extradited to Queensland to face the charges.

Former DanFX Trade director Daniel Farook Ali is charged with eight counts of fraud relating to allegations he used $977,000 of investors’ money for his personal use, including to purchase luxury cars and property.

Ali departed Australia in May 2018 around the time civil proceedings brought against him by ASIC were drawing to an end.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in December 2020 and he was apprehended by Polish authorities in November 2021 before he was extradited back to Queensland in July 2022.

The 54-year-old applied for bail in the Brisbane District Court on Friday where lawyers for the Crown opposed his release, arguing he was a flight risk.

Defence barrister Patrick Wilson submitted Ali did not have the resources to fund a trip overseas or maintain a life in another country.

“In a practical sense it’s difficult to flee Australia without a passport and without means,” Mr Wilson said.

“Anything is possible, this court sees incredible factual scenarios every day of the week but that is one which can be discounted in my submission, it is not a realistic risk that this man with no resources and no passport is able to leave country, whether it be by way of a boat of whatever it might be, it’s pure speculation to say something like that might occur.”

Mr Wilson said Ali had ties to the community including four adult children living in Australia, and he proposed to live with his mother at Salisbury if he were granted release.

In response to criticism about the size of the proposed one bedroom bail address, Mr Wilson said it was still preferable to the current “double up arrangements” in overcrowded prisons.

The court heard after leaving the country in 2018, Ali married a Ukrainian woman in Dubai and the pair had two children together.

“She’s living in a refugee camp in Germany and he expresses a desire to bring that family to Australia,” Mr Wilson said.

Mr Wilson said the case was moving slowly through the courts and while it was not “impossible”, it would be complicated to have the matter brought to trial before the end of the year.

He said there were no criminal charges on foot when Ali left the country in 2018.

Barrister Susan Hedge, for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said Ali had shown “no interest” in returning to Australia when he went overseas in 2018.

“It’s not simply the fact of leaving in my submission that results in the inference your honour would draw that he doesn’t have any ties to Australia and is a significant risk of flight – the fact is that he left and then did not come back,” she said.

Ms Hedge said the ties Ali claimed to have in Australia did not result in him returning at any point in the three-and-a-half years he was overseas.

“And then he required extensive extradition proceedings in Poland including appeals to be brought back to Australia,” she said.

“So it’s not simply the fact of leaving, it’s what he did after that and that shows the level of his ties to Australia in my submission – the ties that he now says will hold him here did not hold him here for that whole period.”

Ms Hedge submitted it could be inferred that Ali knew he was at risk of facing further proceedings and he “chose to stay away to try and avoid the consequences”.

She said there was no evidence in Ali’s bail affidavit for any plans if released on bail including employment and there was no evidence of attempts to obtain immigration status for his family in Germany.

“So he says he wishes for them to reside here but he’s done nothing to achieve that,” she said.

My submission is your honour would be very concerned that he doesn’t appear to have any interest in staying in Australia, he’s done nothing to make a life here if I can put it like that, other than the bare assertion that he’d like to do that.”

Ms Hedge Ali’s funds were frozen when he first went overseas in 2018 and that he still managed to survive for more than three years including getting married and starting a family.

Judge Tony Moynihan KC took into account Ali’s circumstances, including that he was having a hard time on remand with prison overcrowding meaning he was locked down for 20 hours a day and shared a single cell with another inmate.

He said if convicted of the charges, Ali would likely receive a “substantial” prison sentence that exceeded the time he had already spent in custody.

Judge Moynihan found Ali had left the jurisdiction with knowledge of an ASIC investigation and that the crown case could not be said to be “weak, vague or tenuous”.

“Balancing all of the relevant considerations, I am satisfied there is an unacceptable risk the applicant if released on bail would fail to surrender into custody,” he said.

Ali’s application was dismissed and he was remanded in custody for a further mention of his case next month.