Former directors have been fined and banned over their roles at a disgraced funeral insurance company that ripped off thousands of Indigenous Australians.
The Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, owned by collapsed insurance company Youpla, sold junk funeral policies to Indigenous people for decades.
It targeted communities where English was not the first language and others with low literacy levels.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched Federal Court action against the company and, subsequently, its five directors in hearings beginning in 2020.
On Wednesday, Justice Geoffrey Kennett handed down fines to three of Youpla’s former directors - Jonathan Law, Michael Wilson and Geoffrey Clayton - after they admitted breaches of the Corporations Act.
They were handed fines of $50,000, $20,000 and $20,000, respectively, and were also ordered to pay thousands of dollars towards ASIC’s legal costs.
They were also each barred from managing a corporation for between five and 10 years.
Another of its former directors, Ronald Pattenden, was in October fined $250,000 and handed a 15-year ban from managing corporations after admitting breaches of his duties.
Former Youpla Group chief Bryn Jones was found by the Federal Court to have breached his duties after contesting ASIC's allegations in a hearing in February.
Mr Jones' penalty will be determined at a hearing at a later date.
ASIC alleged the former directors maintained insurance arrangements with Crown Insurance Services Limited, a Vanuatu-based insurance company owned and controlled by Mr Pattenden and Mr Law, for personal benefit.
Insuring with Crown left Youpla's entities vulnerable to unaffordable premium increases between September 2017 and November 2018.
The company went into liquidation in March 2022.
ASIC said its collapse caused major trauma and hardship to the First Nations people who had policies with the company, especially given the cultural significance of funerals.
Youpla was exposed during the 2018 banking royal commission but not before thousands of people paid for inappropriate plans, including through Centrepay, where money is automatically deducted from social security payments.
The Federal Court handed Youpla a $1.2 million fine in September 2023 for misrepresenting junk funeral policies.
It found it told plan holders they would receive a lump sum payment when in fact they would only be reimbursed for expenses they could prove had been incurred.
Youpla avoided paying millions more in fines handed down by the Federal Court in July 2025 because it had gone into liquidation.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said the misconduct contributed to serious harm to First Nations consumers.
"This action demonstrates ASIC’s commitment to the protection of vulnerable consumers," he said.
A $97 million federal government support package was announced in February 2024 to help more than 13,000 victims recover from financial loss.
Payments to remaining victims will continue to be processed until December 1.
13YARN 13 92 76
Lifeline 13 11 14
