Charges against Meta sparked by Andrew Forrest over false cryptocurrency ads on Facebook discontinued

Andrew Forrest released a video statement to media ahead of the court hearing. (Supplied: Tattarang)

Criminal charges brought against Meta instigated by one of Australia’s richest people Andrew Forrest over fraudulent Facebook cryptocurrency ads have been discontinued in court.

The West Australian mining magnate tried to bring charges against the US social media giant in a suburban Perth magistrates court, relating to alleged scam advertisements used to defraud Australian investors.

His action centred on the advertisements, which used his name and image, to promote cryptocurrency investment schemes, published on Facebook.

In a highly unusual move, Mr Forrest brought the action as a private individual in a lower court.

But because of the seriousness of the charges, they needed to be heard in a higher court and prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP).

In the WA District Court today, Chief Judge Julie Wager accepted a submission by the CDPP to discontinue three charges relating to dealing with proceeds of crime.

A lawyer for the CDPP told the court they had received the brief but decided not to continue with the prosecution.

‘Shame on them’: victim

An alleged victim of the scam who attended court today said the result was disappointing, but she vowed to continue to fight for Meta to be held to account.

“The message is, it’s not the end,” the woman, who asked not to be identified, said.

The woman, who says she lost $670,000 to the scam which promised to invest her money in global cryptocurrency markets, urged the federal government to reform the law to prevent future losses.

A 2020 investigation by the ABC into her case found she made a series of transfers to Australian and German bank accounts, believing the fact they were in well-regulated jurisdictions meant she was safe.

But the money was then transferred into international shell companies that were set up in unregulated offshore jurisdictions.

Her bank failed to alert her to any issues with the accounts, despite a series of irregularities, and she never recovered her money.

The woman said she thought a class action against Meta was inevitable.

“Shame on them,” she said.

“You can’t make money on someone else’s … tragedy.”

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Australians reported $3.1 billion in losses to scams last year.

Scams threaten vulnerable: Forrest 

In a video published overnight, Mr Forrest accused social media companies of “just blatantly refusing to have any influence on the content on their sites, no matter how fraudulent.”

Despite repeatedly asking for bogus advertisements featuring his image to be removed, Mr Forrest said “they continue to proliferate with Facebook’s knowledge” which is why he had launched legal action in both the US and Australia.

He said retirees and pensioners were amongst those who had fallen for the scams, putting their life savings at risk.

“I call on all social media companies to use your vast resources to not just make yourself bigger and richer and wider and fatter, but to protect vulnerable people from your platforms being used by criminal syndicates, to steal from innocent people all over the world,” he said.

The mining billionaire said US laws dating back to 1996, gave “full immunity” to social media platforms for any content they published, which threatened democracy globally, and it was time to “fix” this.

US court action pending

Mr Forrest, the founder of Perth-based Fortescue Metals Group, also launched civil proceedings against Facebook in California in September 2021.

That matter was heard in the US on Thursday, local time.

The civil case will determine if Meta is liable for allegedly publishing and not removing thousands of fraudulent ads featuring Mr Forrest’s image.

“I’m asking the courts of California, I will ask the courts of Australia, to fix this illegal or improper content rapidly,” he said.

If successful, it could force Meta to be more accountable for fraudulent content on its platforms in Australia and globally.

Additional reporting by AAP