Oli Capital collapse leads to questions over missing millions, gold, and bosses whereabouts

High flying Chinese-Australian investment house Oli Capital has collapsed, leading to accusations its boss had fled the country with millions of dollars.

Boss of Oli Capital Luo Qi in Sydney 2021. Picture John Grainger

Accusations are flying over claims of missing millions in gold and investments and the absence of the boss of an investment firm targeting wealthy Chinese Australians amid claims of theft and espionage.

Sydney-based Oli Capital slipped into liquidation late last week, after orders were made on to wind the group up after creditors clamouring for their money back were unable to secure their investments

But staff at the investment house, which boasted offices in some of Sydney’s most expensive real estate, have not been seen in months.

Customers are clamouring for the return of their funds, with Grant Thornton noting at least 40 had registered in recent days as the liquidators prepared to pick over the carcass of the collapsed group.

Liquidators are seeking to nail down claims, but sources suggest it may run higher than $50m.

Almost 100 investors have joined social media groups in a bid to track down Oli Capital boss Luo Qi, who hasn’t been seen in months.

Investors were lured by Oli Capital’s high returns, with Mr Qi offering as high as 18 per cent return over 12 months.

A letter was recently circulated on Chinese social media platform WeChat purporting to be written by Mr Qi and claiming he had taken the funds and run.

The letter, bearing Oli Capital letter head and branding, claimed Mr Qi and his “little girlfriend” had run away to Southeast Asia “using the funds of all investors”.

The letter claimed “I really ran away, everyone’s funds have been cleaned up by my professional team”.

But Mr Qi denied he had taken funds, telling The Australian the letter was fake and was an attempt to defame him.

He told The Australian he was currently in South Korea attempting to raise more funds and Oli Capital had only slipped into liquidation after a former employee allegedly stole customer information, triggering a run on capital.

“(A former employee), who breached the rules and was fired, stole our investment customer information, and contacted investment customers in private around September last year when the financial and stock market was down” he said.

Mr Qi said the former employee’s actions had led to a “serious capital chain run problems” for Oli Capital.

Landlords locked Oli Capital out of the firm’s chic George Street offices, next to corporate communications players CitadelMagnus, after the firm missed several months.

Staff have not been seen in the office since before Christmas, while some investors report they haven’t been able to access anyone from the firm since October.

The firm hasn’t been without controversy, with the market operator striking out a key firm Oli Capital and its boss, Mr Qi were backing.

The ASX suspended Eagle Health Holdings from trade after auditors repeatedly were prevented from verifying its financials.

Oli Capital had spruiked Eagle Health Holdings to its investors, issuing notes claiming the pharmaceutical player was a buy.

Eagle Health Holding was delisted after Grant Thornton auditors refused to sign off on the company’s books, amid frustrated attempts to access bank records in China.

Oli Capital also attempted to spruik collapsed neobank Volt to its investors, taking a coterie on a visit to the McLaren Street offices in June 2019.

The visit, live translated into Mandarin for Oli Capital investors, saw investors showered with lofty claims the bank would list on the ASX in mid-2020 and deliver $234m in net profits by 2028.

Volt Bank collapsed into administration in January 2022, after it was unable to raise a further $200m in a series F funding round.

This came after the Steve Weston-run bank had ploughed more than $219m into the lender over five years.

Mr Qi has lavished money on many Chinese community events in recent years, bankrolling beauty pageants, wine tasting, and golf matches, in a bid to get his firm’s name in headlines.

The firm even contacted media relations professionals, but was unwilling to put executives up for interviews.

But with lockouts across a sprawling network of offices, Oli Capital appears to have marked the high point for an operation which struck out from Perth in 2018.

Oli Capital had been on a tear in recent years landing in Sydney’s Chinese community hot stop of Chatswood before striking out for the CBD offering high returns.

The firm has rapidly grown to spruiking financial services, business consulting, funds management, brokerage and investment banking.

Oli Capital recently struck out with a gold investment business alongside a prospective play into hydrogen.

Clients were offered investments in gold that could yield as much as 8 per cent, with the Oli Gold product spruiked at several Chinese community events.

Oli Capital has also been seeking to raise funds for hydrogen investments, spruiking double digit returns, establishing an energy business Oli Energy in 2021 headed by energy advisor Luigi Bonadio.

In online posts Mr Qi said investors could expect 15-24 per cent annual returns from hydrogen investments.

Oli Capital holds 90 per cent of shares in Oli Energy through its private investments vehicle.

Mr Bonadio declined to comment.