Sasha Hopkins’ A Team Property Group and Ricky Hirsch’s Fulfil The Dream compete after falling out

The latest chapter in the downfall of rogue property developer Sasha Hopkins would not have escaped Ricky Hirsch’s attention. A few years ago he accused Mr Hopkins of stealing his particular business model. The once-tight business associates fell out when Mr Hopkins’ A Team Property Group took off like a rocket on the east coast with slicker marketing and more success than Mr Hirsch’s Fulfil The Dream. Prior to that, Mr Hopkins was sourcing clients for his mate and pocketing introduction fees. Then his ambition — or greed — caught ablaze. Like Mr Hirsch, he left a scorched trail of misery in his slipstream. After a long investigation by the corporate regulator, ASIC, Mr Hopkins was last month fined $1.25 million and banned from running companies for four years. His schemes and companies are being wound up. The Federal Court found that Mr Hopkins’ companies were illegally operating unregistered managed investment schemes as well as carrying on a financial services business without a licence. Like Mr Hirsch, Mr Hopkins promoted joint-venture property developments on social media, enticing prospective investors with promises of huge returns. Investor losses ended up totalling $27 million. Justice Jonathan Beach found that Mr Hopkins “had a central role as the founder, designer and operator of the unregistered schemes, including advising individuals to invest their personal savings by setting up self-managed superannuation funds to invest in a scheme”. ASIC trumpeted that Mr Hopkins’ fine was the third highest civil penalty ordered against an individual in a case it had brought. And it warned it was coming after others like him. Unscrupulous property investment schemes were “a key enforcement priority”, it said. “ASIC is concerned about consumers being enticed to invest in high-risk property development schemes, particularly where they are advised to set up self-managed superannuation funds to make the investment,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said. Mr Hirsch’s victims hope that the regulator is true to its word. Emails seen by The Sunday Times highlight the deteriorating relationship between the two wannabe tycoons, with arguments between the companies over client management. Clients witnessed the mutual blame-shifting and sniping. Investor Eric Tsang, who was referred to Mr Hirsch by Mr Hopkins and subsequently got nothing for his $300,000-plus outlay, got an email from the latter 12 months ago saying he was “deeply sorry” for the “horrible outcome.” “There were many external people that let me down and failed to deliver, such as Ricky,” Mr Hopkins wrote. Mr Tsang said he blamed the pair equally for his losses. The father-of-three is now working two jobs to repair his family’s finances. After the falling-out, Mr Hirsch used other firms to reel in investors. One of them, Integrity Wealth Group was run by his close mate Mark Zaugra, who prefers to be called Aleks. IWG heavily promoted Fulfil the Dream’s projects on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. It encouraged the use of self-managed super funds to invest, although it had no AFS licence. It falsely claimed Mr Hirsch’s projects were “coming in ahead of schedule”. IWG, which operated out of Mr Hirsch’s property, repeatedly told prospective clients would be held in a trust account and there would be transparency around how the money was used. Some said they would never have invested without the promise, but it too was false. Last December, Mr Hirsch distanced himself from the commitment, saying Fulfil the Dream was not liable for representations made by another company, yet the three IWG representatives took orders from Mr Hirsch. IWG has since disintegrated and Mr Zaugra has been in trouble with the law for unrelated matters. He has pleaded guilty for attempting to possess MDMA with intent to sell or supply and is due for sentencing in the District Court on January 31. He’s also due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court next month on charges for other drug-related offences. Another company that sourced investors for Fulfil The Dream and collected handsome finder’s fees was Peth-based DFG Property Developments operated by Matt Piotrowski. These were getting project updates via DFG up until November 2021, when DFG wrote to them saying Fulfil The Dream had been removed from its “partnership platform” for future projects. It said it was still committed to helping its past clients, but several have said they’ve received no help. Mr Piotrowski, who invested $40,000 of his own money in Mr Hirsch’s business, was contacted for comment.