Who is Kenneth Charles Grace? Multi-millionaire conman found dead in Sydney motel ahead of his sentence for running Ponzi scheme

Kenneth Charles Grace, a former car salesman turned multi-millionaire conman infamous for scamming a variety of high-profile celebrity clients, was found dead at a Sydney motel on Thursday, January 18. Quite coincidentally, this was also the very same day Kenneth was all set to be sentenced at the Downing Centre District Court for his Goldsky Global Access Fund Ponzi scheme.

Goldsky Global Access Fund had promised investors a return of 20 percent a year but was liquidated in 2018 after allegations against the company's director, Kenneth, who was reportedly running a complex Ponzi scheme and pocketing the money himself. $24 million from the company still remains unaccounted for. Further details regarding Kenneth's death are still under investigation.

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Kenneth Charles Grace departs with $24 million still unaccounted for

On Thursday, January 18, Judge Siobhan Herbert issued a warrant for the arrest of conman Kenneth Charkes Grace after he failed to show up for his penultimate sentencing at the Downing Centre District Court. His lawyers were neither able to contact him nor provide for his whereabouts.

Kenneth pleaded guilty in April of last year to six charges of dishonest conduct concerning the Goldsky investment fund. However, the man never showed up, and his lifeless body was found in a motel in Foveaux St., Surry Hills, in Sydney's central business district. The man who failed to show up for his sentencing was eerily found dead on the very same day.

Meanwhile, the infamy surrounding the deceased man, Kenneth Charles Grace, stems from his time at the helm of his former investment fund company, Goldsky Global Access Fund. Kenneth was the lone director of this fund. He had coerced a bunch of high-profile Australian clients into investing with the company for a promised return of 20 per cent a year.

Some of the famous faces that invested with Goldsky include former AFL player and assistant coach Simon Black, Melbourn Storm head of performance Lachlan Penfold, former AFL player Clark Keating, Olympic swimmer Sam Riley, and Olympic cyclist Robbie McEwen. Keating invested a whopping $100,000, while Penfold put in $127,000.

The company was forced into liquidation in 2018 following allegations that Kenneth Charles Grace was running a Ponzi scheme using investors' funds and using them to fund his luxury lifestyle. From purchases and investments for himself to the money spent on family, Kenneth's lifestyle caught the eye of many.

A few months before Goldsky collapsed, Kenneth bought a luxury home at the Sydney Harbour, alongside a skippered motorboat, just for the sake of clearing his head. Back in 2020, in a Brisbane Federal Court hearing, it was revealed that Kenneth had even hired a private jet using investor money, all so that his stepdaughter could get to Queensland from Sydney for breast implants.

He admitted to using $17,000 in investor funds to hire the jet for himself and his family. He acknowledged during the federal court proceedings that he had shifted money from the hedge fund account into an account he held with his wife.

However, he claimed that he didn't lose the clients' money, even if they were unaware of the transfer. $24 million from the collapse of the hedge fund is still left unaccounted for.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Kenneth Charles Grace had claimed that the Goldsky liquidators didn't try enough to find the money and also confessed that he was a cybercrime victim. Further details regarding the condition Kenneth Charles Grace's body was found in and the circumstances surrounding his passing have not been revealed yet.