Where’s the missing $50m? Inquiry begins to unmask Oli group collapse

An investigation has begun in a bid to find millions belonging to Chinese Australians who invested in a group of Sydney companies which went into liquidation last week.

The boss of Oli Capital, Luo Qi. Picture: Supplied

An official investigation has begun to find as much as $50 million belonging to Chinese Australians who invested with Sydney’s Oli group.

Oli Capital, Oli Private Investment and Oli Funds Management were placed in voluntary liquidation last week, it can be revealed.

Liquidator Phil Campbell-Wilson of Grant Thornton told The Daily Telegraph that he wanted to hear from any investor who could help explain the Oli group’s demise.

“We request that creditors provide us with any information that may assist our investigations,” Mr Campbell-Wilson said.

He will be writing to creditors by the end of this week. At least 40 people are expected to lodge claims that they are owed money.

Luo Qi is the common director in the Oli companies. Picture: John Grainger

Mr Campbell-Wilson is also planning to interview staff in a bid to understand what caused Oli’s failure.

He declined to comment on the amount of investor money caught up in the collapse, but other sources suggested it could be more than $50m.

The common director among the Oli companies is Luo Qi, who is also a shareholder in all three.

Mr Luo first came to public attention in 2020 when Chinese Australians raised concerns with The Telegraph about stock recommendations being made by Oli.

Despite these concerns, The Telegraph is not aware of any authority taking action against the Oli group or Mr Luo.

He could not be contacted for comment.

The Oli companies were registered in NSW and filings with the corporate regulator list their address as being at Goulburn St in Sydney’s CBD.

Until at least 2020, Mr Luo was also based in Sydney.

The Oli filings say current address as being Bentley in Perth’s south.

However, Grant Thornton confirmed that Mr Luo was no longer in Australia.

Mr Campbell-Wilson said Mr Luo was communicating with him.

In March 2020, Oli Capital recommended buying shares in a company called Eagle Health Holdings, which at the time was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

In a research report written in Mandarin, Oli described EHH as a “safe haven for Australian investors”, because it expanded into making face masks.

Five months later, the ASX suspended trade in EHH stock after the company failed to lodge financial statements. EHH was delisted in 2021.

In 2020, Mr Luo told The Telegraph that Oli Capital was paid by EHH for “investor relationship services” in 2018 and early 2019, but not for the EHH report.