An Australian who has lived abroad for almost two decades has urged fellow expats to check their superannuation after his retirement nest egg dwindled from $180,547 to just $4,106 without his knowledge.

Cameron Smith, 53, is among the 12,000 investors whose life was turned upside down following the collapse of First Guardian and the related Shield Master Fund in 2024, owing $1.2billion.

Now based in Switzerland, he decided in 2018 to consolidate super he had racked up in Australia before moving overseas in 2007.

He was offered YourChoiceSuper, which operated under Diversa Trustees.

He paid $2,000 to consolidate his superannuation into Diversa, thinking it would be the end of the matter.

It was later invested into the FGMF fund without Mr Smith’s knowledge or consent.

Financial advisor Nizi Bhandari allegedly handled the consolidation.

Bhandari was later charged with unlicensed advice and dishonesty offences following an investigation from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Aussie expat Cameron Smith’s retirement nest egg dwindled from $180,547 to just $4106 without his knowledge

Mr Smith began investigating after he received a Google alert stating Bhandari had been struck off. 

Thinking his super had climbed to $250,0000, he was in for a rude shock.

‘All of a sudden, it went back to basically half that value. I’m like, “What’s going on here?”‘ Mr Smith told nine.com.au.

He filed a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) in 2024 and claimed that he was later assured by Diversa that his super was safe.

Still unaware that his funds were with FGMF, Mr Smith then discovered that Ferras Merhi of Venture Egg Financial Services Pty Ltd had been appointed as his new financial advisor.

Merhi has since been accused by ASIC of engaging in ‘unconscionable conduct, fail[ing] to act in the best interests of clients, [giving] conflicted advice, and provid[ing] defective statements of advice whilst receiving millions of dollars’.

Mr Smith decided to reinvest his super elsewhere. But by then, it was too late.

‘I didn’t get the chance to do that, because as soon as that complaint finished, then I started getting these emails from FTI Consulting, the liquidator of First Guardian,’ he recalled.

Now based in Switzerland, Mr Smith fears that there are many other Aussies expats out there unaware that their retirement nest egg had been completely wiped (stock image)

SOS Save Our Super advocate Melinda Kee has renewed warnings for Aussie expats to check their super

‘Then I found out that all of my money had been invested in First Guardian, but I still didn’t know.’

Mr Smith eventually found an email in his spam folder informing him that $178,557.45 from his superannuation had been ‘frozen’.

He has lodged complaints with AFCA against Diversa Trustees Limited and against Financial Services Group Australia Pty Ltd, which is now in liquidation.

Luckily, he has separate superannuation accounts from working overseas.

But Mr Smith fears that there are many other Aussies out there unaware that their nest egg had been completely wiped, and called for the federal government to get involved.

Fellow First Guardian victim and advocate Melinda Kee, who runs the group SOS Save Our Super, said the number of victims impacted by the $1.1 billion collapse who live overseas remains unknown.

Merhi recently vowed to fight the allegations against him.

‘I’m here to face the music but I strongly deny that I have done anything unlawful,’ he told ACA earlier this year.

One of Cameron Smith’s former financial advisors Ferras Merhi (pictured) has vowed to fight all allegations against him

‘I followed the rules in front of me and that will be found out in the courts.’ 

Mehri had this message for impacted victims.

‘I’m deeply sorry. It hurts every single day that I have to wake up and not see their money paid back,’ Mehri said. 

Victims from the failed superannuation fund collapses copped a fresh blow last month when it was revealed that the government compensation scheme is mired in a $170million funding blackhole.

ASIC has launched Federal Court action against Diversa Trustees Limited, the trustee for Ausprac, accusing it of failing to protect investors in the troubled First Guardian Master Fund.

The corporate watchdog alleges Diversa breached its duties by failing to warn members about the fund’s illiquidity risks, leaving investors exposed when withdrawals were frozen and the fund later entered liquidation.

ASIC is seeking compensation orders, including the possibility of a remediation program, aimed at recovering losses suffered by investors.

Diversa has denied wrongdoing and filed a defence in the Federal Court, arguing the losses were caused by alleged fraud and the actions of First Guardian’s trustee, directors, financial advisers and platform operators, while maintaining it acted in members’ best interests at all times.

Managing director Andrew Peterson said it had been a ‘very hard time’ for members caught up in the First Guardian collapse.

‘We are committed to making sure that the fraud committed against them is rectified, and that those responsible for it are held to account,’ he said in a statement.

Mr Peterson said Diversa had also applied to the Federal Government for financial assistance for affected members and believed ‘the case for a grant of financial assistance is compelling’.