Changed names, dubious qualifications: Lion Property Group's murky path to failure

One of the two directors of the failed $120 million Lion Property Group empire is a former hypnotherapist and “life coach” who previously had a different name.

Australian Property Investor Magazine can further reveal that corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) — which has come under fierce public criticism over the Lion collapse — has said it is now investigating the group.

The move by ASIC comes months after a group of burned investors took action themselves to have Lion wound up — and over a year after ASIC itself, remarkably, gave Lion the green light.

Until now, ASIC has been sitting on the sidelines, stating it was “assessing information provided” in a provisional liquidators’ report, completed by KPMG on 24 July, and “considering what, if any, further steps it might take”.

ASIC has now said it is “currently investigating”, but is otherwise remaining tight-lipped.

“ASIC is currently investigating matters relating to Lion but won’t provide any further comment,” a spokeswoman told API Magazine.

ASIC probed Lion last year but took no meaningful action, despite liquidators KPMG having since found it was illegally operating an unlicensed “managed investment scheme”.

Lion spruiked 18 property developments in Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, citing “targeted returns” as high as 65 per cent over three years.

Despite the collapse leaving around 600 investors owed more than $120 million, relatively little is known about Lion’s co-founders and directors, John Sader and Garry Pesochinsky.

Dubious career relevance

Investigations by API Magazine show that before founding Lion, Mr Sader, 45, was a “life coach” and “hypnotherapist”, operating as a sole trader under the name Mind Dynamics Consulting.

And, according to ASIC records, he was formerly named John Brunton.

Alongside ASIC, Victoria Police are also examining Lion, with the matter “currently under assessment by the Financial Crime Squad”, according to a spokeswoman.

Both ASIC and Victoria Police have been provided with a confidential version of KPMG’s 24 July report, which contains allegations of serious impropriety.

Both Mr Pesochinsky and Mr Sader have repeatedly failed to respond to requests for comment.

Neither man has been charged with any offence.

ASIC documents obtained by API Magazine state Mr Sader, born in Melbourne in 1979, was previously named John Brunton. The date of the name change is not shown.

Mr Sader’s LinkedIn profile states he was a “life coach”, “leadership coach”, a “meta dynamics practitioner” and “hypnotherapist”, from 2014 to 2017, while working under the name Mind Dynamics Consulting.

“Overcome anxiety, gain clarity, determine purpose and connect with your true self,” his Mind Dynamics Consulting bio states.

“You can expect these things and more when you work with an expertly trained and highly skilled Certified Level III Practitioner and Facilitator of Meta Dynamics”.

ASIC records show Mr Sader cancelled the Mind Dynamics Consulting business name in May 2018, which, according to his LinkedIn profile, was the same month he “co-founded” Lion Property Group.

According to KPMG, since 2018, Lion raised $122.2m from around 600 investors.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Sader has no university education.

The profile lists a string of certificates from an online group called the International Coaching Institute, including “Practitioner of Meta Dynamics”; “Practitioner of Deep State Repatterning” and “Level III Practitioner & Facilitator of Meta Dynamics”.

Searches show media outlet HuffPost in 2017 published four articles by Mr Sader, who is described as a “Behavioural Specialist, Change Agent and Life Long Learner”.

The articles included “How Self-Trust Will Change Your Life” and “Is Your Past Holding You Back?”

Mr Sader’s LinkedIn profile states he attended Lilydale Adventist Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist Church-run school in Melbourne’s outer-east, from 1994 to 1997.

Victims label scheme a scam

Burned Lion investors have labelled the group a “blatant financial scam”, and heavily attacked ASIC over its failure to act.

Among those stung by Lion Property Group’s failed promises was an investor who spoke to this publication but wished to retain anonymity as he pursued his legal options.

“I invested $100,000, which was a large portion of my net worth, and was derived last year as the majority of my late mother’s estate.

“The investment was made in September 2024. I received two 1 per cent per month payments across October and November of that year, both of which were late, and since then, Lion continually claimed to have cashflow issues.

“It just feels like we were knowingly scammed.”

Michael Landy, Principal, Eagle Financial Solutions, who is representing the group of investors who launched action to wind up Lion, is among those highly critical of ASIC. 

“It’s incredibly disappointing that ASIC failed to act sooner, despite having multiple opportunities to investigate and intervene,” he previously told API Magazine.

“Their inaction let everyday Australians defenceless against what we believe to be a blatant financial scam.”

KPMG creditors report due soon

The troubles facing Lion were exclusively revealed by this publication in May, including that a group of investors had launched action in the Victorian Supreme Court to wind it up.

The court appointed KPMG as provisional liquidators on 2 July, and on 6 August it wound up Lion Property Group and 25 related companies.

KPMG’s 24 July provisional liquidators’ report found construction on Lion’s string of development projects “seems to have halted in 2024”.

It stated that just $4 million of $122 million raised from the group’s 600-odd investors, could potentially be recovered.

Justice Matthews of the Victorian Supreme Court has said allegations contained in the confidential version of KPMG’s report were so serious “they themselves justify the appointment of liquidators”. 

“There are other matters concerning other allegations in the Confidential Report that I am not in a position to describe, including matters concerning the conduct of the directors,” Justice Matthews said.

“Having reviewed that material, it is apparent that many of these matters require further investigation and which themselves justify the appointment of liquidators.”

Regarding the confidential report, Mr Landy has said: “We…believe there are further serious matters that require investigation, including potentially alarming personal conduct that may have contributed to these losses”.

KPMG is due to file a report to creditors, which will also be provided to investors, by 6 November.

Additional reporting by Craig Francis