The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has acted to appoint receivers over the assets of Gregory Raymond Cotton and First Mutual Private Equity Pty Ltd, as it investigates concerns about alleged misuse of investor funds.

Following an application by ASIC, the Federal Court ordered on 15 December 2025 that Robert Woods and Salvatore Algeri, of Deloitte SRT Pty Ltd, be appointed as receivers to the property of Mr Cotton and First Mutual.

The orders made on 10 September 2025 freezing their assets remain in place.

The Receivers have been appointed until 17 April 2026 and they are required to:

• identify and secure the property of the Defendants;
• determine the amount of investor funds received by the Defendants;
• identify the uses made of investor funds by the Defendants;
• provide a report to the Court on these matters by 20 February 2026.

ASIC took this action due to its concerns about the use of investor funds by Mr Cotton (including for gambling) to enable the Receivers to identify any assets belonging to the Defendants, including loans made to third parties.

On the application of the Defendants, the Court also ordered that they be allowed to withdraw a further sum $250,000 from the bank accounts which are subject to the freezing orders, for the sole purpose of paying their legal costs.

The next hearing has been fixed for 10 April 2026.

ASIC is investigating First Mutual Private Equity Pty Ltd and its director, Gregory Raymond Cotton, due to concerns that they may have allegedly raised up to $131 million in investor funds and that ASIC’s investigation indicates that around $80 million has allegedly been spent on gambling, with no actual investment activity found.

At present, around $7.1 million of total assets of the funds invested have been identified.

ASIC secured initial freezing orders over their assets in August 2025 to protect funds while the investigation continues.