Alexandra is an overly ambitious young lady. She graduated with high marks from high school and enrolled in a finance degree at the Harvard of the Asia-Pacific, Macquarie University. She took well to many aspects of university life. She enjoyed the socialising, the late-night parties, time at the bar and time spent challenging the tutors and lecturers. She did not, however, understand why she was not performing well academically. She was certain that she was much better at all of her subjects than the lecturers, yet her marks were bare passes and the occasional fail.

Upon reflection she decided that there were really only two possible explanations. Either she was not as brilliant as she had thought, and she should abandon her ego in pursuit of humble and meaningful education, or the entire system of educators were jealous. She concluded that it was the latter. After all, those that can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Being someone who could, she decided to leave university after just one and a half years and instead pursue a life where her brilliance could be recognised. She took the $500,000 she had been given by her parents and took a lease out for a particularly expensive office. She entered into the contract on behalf of a company that was yet to be registered, signing as the director of the company. She then spoke to several of her friends. Friends had been hard to come by for Alexandra, but in the end she had found a small group of individuals who recognised her brilliance.

One such friend, Barry, agreed to join Alexandra in business. After an extensive sales pitch on the huge returns the new company would generate, Barry gave Alexandra $500,000 to invest in the company. Alexandra promised Barry that he would be a shareholder in the new company when it was registered. Barry didn't have much of a mind for business, but was certain he had made a wise investment by joining Alexandra on a business venture.

Alexandra visited a lawyer with her boyfriend Chris shortly after receiving Barry's money into her bank account. She asked the lawyer for a quote for registering the company and doing all necessary paperwork to start trading. The lawyer informed Alexandra that it would cost $1,200 to register the company and provide all of the necessary corporate registers and documentation. Alexandra is outraged at this fee, realising that she can do task herself. Alexandra concludes that not only will she save money by doing it herself, but that the job will be done better if she handles it.

After filling out a form with an online company registration website, Alexandra receives a certificate of registration for her new company 'Rising Star Pty Ltd'. She pays for expensive office fit-out and furniture before arranging a grand opening party. She deems the party a success, with many of her friends from university attending and congratulating her on opening such a fancy looking office. She is certain that, having established the image of success, then surely success will follow.

Alexandra spends the next 6 months running up high expenses attending events and functions. She networks furiously and joins many associations. Eventually her network grows and people start asking what it is she actually does. She says that she is an investment banker, and her office can offer a full line of investment banking services. After 6 months she secures her first client. A property developer approaches her to find building finance.

Alexandra is not certain that she can find building finance but accepts the client. She has the client pay a $25,000 application fee. She invites Barry and Chris out that night for a celebration. They go to a fancy restaurant and purchase the most expensive wines. They spend almost half of the application fee. They think nothing of spending so much. They believe that the fact they have a client now proves that they have made it. Once they prove they can get the finance, they will be a huge success and hundreds of other clients will follow.

Months pass and despite her best efforts, Alexandra cannot secure finance. Barry starts to wonder why anyone who was capable of getting finance would ever approach Rising Star Pty Ltd. He expresses this concern to Alexandra, but Alexandra becomes furious at Barry. She calls Barry an idiot and suggests that he simply doesn't understand finance. Barry accepts this. After all, he really doesn't understand finance. He considers that he is just lucky to have a friend like Alexandra.

Months turn into years and other than some small application fees, Rising Stars Pty Ltd is not making any money. Barry starts to become concerned about the lack of progress and insists on sitting in the office with Alexandra to keep an eye on what she is doing. This seriously annoys Alexandra. As a result, the office becomes bitter and hostile. Alexandra and Barry fight frequently. In the end however, Alexandra always gets her way. Barry cares for Alexandra and doesn't want to keep causing her stress, so gives in. He believes it is for the best. After all, he knows nothing about finance.

After three years Rising Star Pty Ltd finally has success. They manage to find funding for a property developer. The fee is 1% of a $72,000,000 loan. Alexandra and Barry are overwhelmed. Alexandra suggests to Barry that she may even be able to pay a dividend this year. Barry is excited. All of his faith and patience in Alexandra has paid off.

The mood in the office changes from that day. Alexandra and Barry are both excited and getting along well. New staff members are hired. Alexandra has a fancy new car. Rising Star Pty Ltd holds parties every night to demonstrate their success. Alexandra even pays a newspaper to run a promotional piece on her, noting her financial prowess.

A month later a man called Daniel arrives at the office asking for Alexandra. Barry tells him that Alexandra is in a meeting. Barry offers to pass on a message. Daniel explains that he invested $100,000 into an investment trust established by Alexandra and Rising Star Pty Ltd. The money was meant to be invested into alternative energy products. Daniel has been trying to contact Alexandra for an update but she has been ignoring all of Daniel's phone calls for a month.

Barry asks Alexandra about Daniel. Alexandra tells Barry that Daniel is 'just an idiot' and not to worry about it. Barry is a little worried, but puts his faith in Alexandra. Over the next two months, two more people turn up at the office looking for Alexandra. Both claim to have invested money with her but can no longer get in contact with her. Barry tries to confront Alexandra about this, but Alexandra says that she is too stressed with running the business to deal with these questions. She reminds Barry that she is the only one who understands finance and that she is carrying the business. She reminds Barry of how stupid he is and how successful they have been because of Alexandra. On each occasion, Barry feels bad for having raised the issue.

One evening Barry receives a phone call. Alexandra has been arrested in Singapore. She was meant to be there on a networking tour. She became drunk and sexually assaulted a younger woman at the networking event. Barry transfers $200,000 to pay bail and a further $100,000 to settle the matter with the young woman. Barry pays this from his personal account, leaving him with very little to live on. He believes this is the right thing to do - both as a friend and as an investment decision. After all, Alexandra had made such a large commission. Surely more money would come soon and he would be repaid.

When Alexandra returns to Australia, Barry approaches her about receiving a dividend. Having paid to resolve Alexandra's situation in Singapore, Barry is now having trouble paying the bills. Alexandra provides a flimsy excuse around frozen accounts and money being tied up right now. Barry becomes very suspicious and begins to look through the office paperwork.

Barry finds a series of bank statements. They show that the $500,000 invested by Barry was almost immediately transferred to Alexandra's mother in Greece. Alexandra has been paying for her car lease through the company. Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent each week on questionable entertainment expenses, including trips to casinos and strip clubs with clients. Barry is despondent.

Barry speaks to a lawyer friend who immediately runs a search of Rising Star Pty Ltd. The lawyer informs Barry that Barry was never registered as a shareholder. Alexandra and Chris are the only shareholders. Barry has instead been registered as the sole shareholder of a company called Rising Star Australia Pty Ltd. It is this company that issued the share certificate to Barry. More concerning, while Barry is not a shareholder of Rising Star Pty Ltd, he has been registered as sole director. While Barry claims he does not remember consenting to act as director, he remembers signing lots of forms he did not read or understand.

Rising Star Pty Ltd has $100,000 left in its account. Alexandra appears to have disappeared to Greece. A group of six people are claiming that they all invested $100,000 into the various funds arranged by Rising Star Pty Ltd and now want proof that their investment has been properly treated. Barry speaks to his lawyer friend, who refuses to take on the matter. Barry comes to you seeking advice.

Q1: Is he in any trouble? Can he get any of his money back from Alexandra?