As the result of an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Federal Court of Australia has wound up CFS Private Wealth Pty Ltd and its corporate authorised representative Combined Financial Solutions Pty Ltd and restrained its director, Graeme Walter Miller, from providing financial services for 25 years and from managing corporations for three years.

From 2008 onwards, Miller advised clients of CFS Private Wealth to transfer more than A$4.7 million to another related company, CFS Corporation Pty Ltd, apparently for investment purposes. Instead, he used those funds for his own personal purposes and to make interest payments to other clients – conduct described by Justice Reeves in his judgement as "a blatant misuse of investor funds."

Justice Reeves found "no evidence that Mr Miller had demonstrated any remorse for, or shown any appreciation of, the disastrous effects of his wrongdoing on his erstwhile clients…[and] no evidence that Mr Miller has any prospects of reforming his behaviour."

The court also found that CFS Private Wealth:

• failed to provide financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly, in contravention of s912A Corporations Act 2001, which ASIC enforces;
• failed to lodge its financial reports with ASIC for the 2016 and 2017 financial years;
• lodged its financial reports for the 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 financial years after the due dates;
• did not have anough assets to meet the conditions of its financial services licence; and
• did not keep adequate documents of investments on behalf of clients, missing out such details as the clients' names, the amounts it was investing, the amounts it was repaying (if any) and the names of the companies in which it was investing.

The court has appointed Jamie Harris and Anthony Connelly of McGrath Nicol as the liquidators of CFS Private Wealth and Combined Financial Solutions Pty Ltd. ASIC had asked the court to reinstate and wind up CFS Corporation Pty, but the court demurred. ASIC is still investigating Miller on other matters.