Therese Kerr spruiks easy-money scheme red-flagged by regulators

The mum of supermodel Miranda Kerr has been promoting an online investment scheme subject to multiple Australian Securities and Investment Commission fraud warnings. FULL DETAILS

Therese Kerr. Picture: Luke Marsden.

The mother of Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr has been promoting an online investment scheme subject to multiple fraud warnings from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

DAO1 is the latest in a series of unregistered securities offered by Gold Standard Corporation (GSB) and a continuation of GSPartners. GSPartners was also subject to ASIC warnings, and was owned by convicted fraudster Josip Heit.

DAO1 sells access to ‘trading bots’ and ‘mining bots’ for its proprietary blockchain Apertum, which can only be mined via DAO1. ASIC has also issued an investor warning about Apertum.

DAO1 has been promoted in Australia by Ms Kerr’s mother Therese Kerr and former Gold Coast influencer Jessica Schembri (also known as Jessica Sol). Its top promoter, Martene Wallace, had been advertising $299 tickets for a company event, The Wealth Odyssey Summit and Gala, at the Hilton Surfers Paradise on June 21.

It is not suggested Miranda Kerr has any knowledge of DAO1 or involvement in its promotion. A member of the Hilton marketing and events team said no such event was booked for that date, nor any other.

Therese Kerr. Picture: Brad Fleet.

The Wealth Odyssey Seminar and Gala was held on the Gold Coast last year at Sea World Resort, with a preliminary event at Main Beach’s YOT Club, although DAO1 was then known as Auratus Gold. Auratus Gold was formerly GSPro, another company run by GSB which was the subject of an ASIC warning.

Last year’s event was attended by hundreds of promoters, including Martene Wallace, Jessica Schembri, Nyomi Holm and Therese Kerr.

The Gold Coast Bulletin attempted to contact all parties named, including Therese Kerr, but received no response.

Therese Kerr’s social media shows she has been promoting companies owned by GSB for two years, with her website directing visitors to a social media page, the Gold Lounge, where she and Nyomi Holm post training videos and encourage investing with DAO1.

Ms Holm and Therese Kerr appear in a video together, which is unlisted but publicly available on YouTube, where Ms Holm stated she and Therese Kerr would be running a series of videos about the foundations of “diversification in the decentralised era”.

In another video, hosted by Ms Holm but posted with Therese Kerr, she said: “We’re talking DAO1. So DAO1 stands for decentralised autonomous organisation. They operate on the Web 3.0 system which just means that they’re not governed by government legislations around the world.

“It’s not illegal.

“It’s just not in the government, um, reach. Government, ATO (Australian Taxation Office), wages, all of those things, ASIC, operate on Web 2.0. Just so you understand that a little bit.”

Therese Kerr is the mother of model Miranda Kerr (above). It is not suggested Miranda Kerr has any knowledge of DAO1 or involvement in its promotion. Picture: Instagram

Both ASIC and New Zealand’s regulatory body, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), have issued multiple warnings against investment schemes run by GSB, including DAO1, Apertum, Auratus Gold, Billionico, GSPro, GSPartners and Swiss Valorem Bank.

As well as its warning against DAO1, an ASIC spokesperson urged investors to be highly sceptical of online investment opportunities promising high returns.

ASIC also urged residents to be suspicious of ‘digital gold vault’ investments previously linked to GSB.

ASIC issued a warning about Auratus Gold last year, stating the company was “likely to be offering financial services to Australian consumers” despite not being registered to do so. Offering securities without registration with ASIC constitutes securities fraud under Australian law.

It issued a second warning in September pertaining to the company’s ‘digital gold vaults’ investment scheme.

“ASIC is alerting consumers about suspicious investment opportunities in digital gold vaults by unlicensed financial services entities,” the warning stated.

“Unlicensed entities are luring consumers with the promise of payment for recruitment and referral … potentially being ponzi schemes.

“They use online articles and social media posts and groups, such as Instagram and Facebook, to provide details about the opportunities, targeting the consumer’s network of family and friends.”

Therese Kerr. Picture: Luke Marsden.

In the online video, Ms Holm said an investment of just over $4000, the minimum entry level, would turn into more than $12,000.

She also said investors could earn $5000 to $10,000 per month in passive income, but said she was “earning a lot more than that”.

“I put the work in and the effort in. Now when I say work, it’s not hard work, it’s just talking. It’s just connecting. It’s just sharing my journey on social media,” she said.

The Australian Federal Police urged residents to report any profiles or interactions if they were suspicious of online fraud. The AFP recently launched Operation Firestorm to target cyber scammers cheating Australians.

New Zealand’s FMA also warned DAO1 was not registered on the Financial Service Providers Register to provide financial services or products in that country.

“The FMA has been made aware of online webinars promoting DAO1 and its associated products by Apertum Holding Ltd (DAO1),” stated the NZ warning.

“DAO1 claims its members can earn passively through automated trading and AI bots that analyse the market and make automated trades. The FMA wishes to advise investors … to be cautious of anyone claiming that a particular product or technique can give you access to better returns or easy money.

“DAO1’s marketing material also displays unsubstantiated and unrealistically high returns for its products and services, which are unlikely to be achievable by most members. We recommend caution when dealing with DAO1 or anyone promoting its products or services.”

Originally published as Therese Kerr spruiks easy-money scheme red-flagged by regulators