Trio boss probe ends for lack of evidence THE corporate regulator and the Australian Federal Police yesterday closed an international investigation into the alleged mastermind behind the failed $176 million Trio Capital, citing insufficient evidence. The announcement came as the Australian Securities & Investments Commission released an update on Trio, which collapsed in 2009, and a former executive of the company pleaded guilty to 20 criminal charges in a Sydney court. Trio Capital investment manager Tony Maher, who changed his name from Paul Gresham, pleaded guilty in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court yesterday to charges including publishing false or misleading statements to create financial advantage. The charges related to Trio's ARP Growth Fund, of which Mr Maher had been a sole director. The fund was based in the British Virgin Islands and had held about $58m of investor funds before Trio collapsed. Mr Maher admitted to making false and misleading statements that led to Trio paying $500,000 to PST Management, which acted as investment manager for ARP. ASIC said it would cease the investigation into Jack Flader Jr, who it alleged was Trio's "ultimate controller," on the grounds it had insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing. The regulator said in June it did not have sufficient grounds to launch action against Mr Flader. Yesterday it said it was abandoning that investigation. "ASIC, the AFP and our overseas regulatory counterparts have sought to obtain extra evidence to establish that Mr Flader breached Australian law," the regulator said. However, despite this work, there is insufficient evidence to prove Mr Flader breached Australian law. In these circumstances, ASIC is now finalising its investigation of Mr Flader. Trio Capital had moved investors' funds to the British Virgin Islands tax haven between 2004 and 2009 as part of the fraud, with $176m owned by self-managed superannuation fund members and direct investors moving offshore. Last year, a parliamentary joint committee inquiry into Trio's collapse criticised ASIC over its handling of the fraud. The committee described the collapse as the "largest super fraud in Australian history." It called for "a much more rigorous criminal investigation, involving ASIC, APRA and the Australian Federal Police." The corporate regulator is gearing up to front an inquiry into its own effectiveness. A date for that inquiry has not been set. Only one person has been jailed so far over the Trio collapse. Shawn Richard, a former investment manager with the group's Astarra Strategic Fund, was jailed in 2011 for 2 1/2 years after pleading guilty to two charges of dishonest conduct in carrying on a financial services business and to making a false statement about a financial product. Mr Maher was released yesterday on conditional bail. He will be sentenced in the Sydney District Court on November 8.