Santander Phoenix FC

Wanted in India ... Ahsan Ali Syed.

IN ONE of the largest frauds perpetrated on Australians, business figures including a former state treasurer and a former bank executive are among the victims of what now appears to be a $100 million scam.

The alleged mastermind is Indian-born Ahsan Ali Syed, who has duped victims into paying millions of dollars to obtain loans that never happen.

Among those stung are David Kenny, a former National Australia Bank senior executive, who needed funding for the North West Motel Group in Western Australia.

Keith DeLacy, a former Queensland treasurer, was part of a private consortium that handed over more than $3 million to fund a rescue bid for Cubbie Station, a cotton property.

Mr De Lacy said the consortium had not received the promised loan but had recovered half its fees.

Mr Ali is wanted by police in his home town of Hyderabad to answer ''cheating'' charges. He is alleged to have conned locals into paying $3000 each for overseas visas and jobs.

Last year the BBC reported Mr Ali left London in a hurry in 2005 owing �7800 rent and leaving a string of bad debts. From there Mr Ali established Western Gulf Advisory in Bahrain and Switzerland, claiming to have an $8 billion inheritance to invest.

Western Gulf Advisory offers loans at attractive interest rates. Last year it organised favourable articles in the Australian press naming happy recipients of their loans.

The Sun-Herald has confirmed that these claims were not true and to date not a single borrower, including those named in the press releases, has received a single cent.

Respective clients have been by paying a non-refundable fee of $41,000 followed by 1.6 per cent of the total loan amount. Victims handed over up to $4 million each.

In New Zealand the National Business Review has reported that the owner of the football team Wellington Phoenix, Terry Serepisos, has also been stung by Western Gulf Advisory, which promised to buy half of the Phoenix.

Tomorrow Mr Serepisos, who was the boss in the NZ version of The Apprentice, will be in court trying to stave off bankruptcy.

An anonymous Australian investor has set up a website, Wikifrauds, warning potential investors about Western Gulf Advisory. It has obtained documents from a Malaysian victim who paid a $US425,000 fee to open a franchise in Malaysia. After depositing a further $US4 million into Mr Ali's Swiss bank account, the investor got nothing.

With the millions he has taken from what now appears to be a worldwide fraud, Mr Ali recently purchased the Spanish first division football team Racing Santander.

He has told the Spanish media he rejects the ''serious allegations'' over the conduct of his business that were raised in The Sydney Morning Herald last week.