Cyber Scam or Financial Fraud? Inside the $20M Collapse of Jade Northcliffe

A bankrupt Gold Coaster, whose collapsed company has debts of more than $20m, claims international cyber scammers tricked him out of more than $1.1bn of investment returns.

But one creditor – owed an eye-watering $6m – says he doesn’t believe the claims.

Paul Sarkis, 62, has been bankrupt since June 16, 2023, after his company Jade Northcliffe was wound up in Brisbane Supreme Court.

Mr Sarkis, Jade Northcliffe’s sole director, told liquidator Matthew Bookless he’d been tricked by scammers impersonating a major UK financial services firm, Lucid Issuer Services.

Mr Sarkis said he’d transferred $12m of investor funds to a HSBC account in the UK, believing it was going to Lucid for “risk-free” leveraged market arbitrage investments, according to Mr Bookless’s report.

Mr Sarkis subsequently received a letter, purportedly from Lucid, saying a planned payment of $US743m – $A1.14bn – had failed to go through. Subsequent attempts by Mr Sarkis to recoup the funds via HSBC were unsuccessful, the report said.

The Gold Coast Bulletin has been unable to contact Mr Sarkis via his lawyers or the liquidator, and his address has been legally suppressed from his bankruptcy notice.

Jade Northcliffe’s largest known creditor is Infinity Life Concepts, directed by Graham Andersen and Nigel Harrison, and is listed as being owed $9.65m. There are millions more in debts to other creditors, listed in US dollars, euros and British pounds.

Aiden Garrison, director of Ocean Pacific Group which wound up Jade Northcliffe, said his company had invested $6m after being promised returns of 20 per cent a month.

A High-Stakes Investment Dream Unravels

Paul Sarkis, who turned 62 this year, marketed Jade Northcliffe as a gateway to lucrative, low-risk investment opportunities in global financial markets. But what was presented as a sophisticated arbitrage operation now appears to many to have been either a highly negligent endeavor or something more sinister.

Several investors say they were drawn in by assurances of extraordinary returns, some allegedly as high as 20% per month. One such investor, Aiden Garrison of the Ocean Pacific Group, publicly challenged Sarkis’s explanation, stating that the cyber scam story does not line up with what he was promised during investment pitches.

“You don’t just lose over a billion dollars in projected returns because of an email,” Garrison said. “This wasn’t a teenager clicking a phishing link — this was $12 million in real investor capital.”

The Scam Allegation

According to documents submitted to court-appointed liquidator Matthew Bookless, Sarkis claimed that the entire investment operation was sabotaged by international cybercriminals who impersonated employees of Lucid Issuer Services, a real financial services firm headquartered in the UK.

Sarkis reportedly transferred $12 million into an HSBC account in London, under the impression that it was a secure holding for a leveraged arbitrage investment. He later received a letter — now believed to be fake — suggesting a $1.14 billion AUD return had failed due to “technical issues.”

Despite his efforts, HSBC declined to assist in recovering the funds, citing confidentiality and international jurisdictional limitations.

Mounting Pressure From Creditors

Jade Northcliffe’s creditors are now organizing for potential legal action. Infinity Life Concepts, owed nearly $10 million, and a host of other investors — both domestic and international — are reviewing the possibility of launching civil suits against Sarkis personally.

“We were not just misled — we may have been intentionally deceived,” said Nigel Harrison, co-director of Infinity Life. “Whether this was fraud or just profound incompetence, people need to be held accountable.”

Legal experts say if the scam story proves unverifiable, criminal investigations into investor fraud or misappropriation of funds could be launched.

Regulatory Implications

The collapse has also drawn the attention of ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission), which is reportedly reviewing the case for potential breaches of the Corporations Act, including director’s duties, unlicensed investment promotion, and failure to act in the best interests of investors.

Financial analyst Danielle Byrne from Equity Watch said this case demonstrates the “perfect storm” of poor oversight, investor desperation for returns, and cybercrime exploitation.

“This is what happens when high yield meets low due diligence. It’s an ecosystem ripe for collapse.”

Public Record Gaps and Suppression Orders

Adding to the confusion, Sarkis’s personal address has been suppressed from public bankruptcy records — a rare step, typically reserved for cases involving potential threats or legal sensitivities. Attempts by media to contact Sarkis through legal representatives or the court-appointed liquidator have been unsuccessful.