Seville Grove man Trent Bowden had it all. Millions in the bank, expensive cars, regular overseas holidays, designer clothes, a $50,000 Rolex and money to lavish on his expensive hobby – clay pigeon shooting.
Now he’s facing a lengthy stretch of time behind bars after the 40-year-old was arrested and charged after authorities probed his investment business and found he had spent $1.5 million dollars of clients’ money on himself.
One of those clients was his own father whom he claimed, along with other lies, was dead.
Bowden launched Trent Bowden Trading – a foreign exchange trading investment company – in 2017 and within a few years had amassed a small fortune.
In 2024, he had around 15 clients scattered across the country. At that time, they were collectively owed at least $2.17 million in funds loaned between 2017 and 2023.
But instead of doling out their promised investment dividends, Bowden was living it up on their dollar. An administrators’ report showed he spent almost $400,000 on trips around Australia, New Zealand, the United States and England, restaurant dinners, electronics and $15,473 worth of “adult entertainment”.
He also forked out $48,745 for a Rolex and other designer goods, splashed $22,421 on clay target shooting equipment and spent $22,141 on self-improvement seminars with American behavioral guru John Demartini.
Just over $20,554 went to a sports coach, and more than $28,981 was spent in taxes.
More than $106,260 was withdrawn in cash, while a further $789,563 was directed straight to Bowden’s personal account.
And the company received a whopping $715,000 deposit in November 2022 when Bowden’s astronomical $26,520 lottery spend helped him defy the odds, becoming one of just two West Australians holding a winning ticket in a Saturday night draw.
The win made national headlines two weeks later, when Bowden was dragged to the Supreme Court accused of duping his lotto syndicate out of their claimed share of the $1.5 million jackpot.
The creditors’ report would later reveal the stoush was settled behind closed doors, and Bowden claims to have walked away with just over $1 million.
It was a windfall that could have been a life raft to partially pay off Bowden’s investors and help him stay afloat. Instead, only a quarter of those winnings were poured back into his flailing business. The rest went on a $200,000 Landcruiser, an $80,000 caravan, a $14,000 firearm, gifts for family and $300,000 in “general living expenses”.
Wesley Turner lost almost $300,000 to Bowden. When he found out the company collapsed in November 2023, Bowden had disconnected his phone and suspended his social media accounts.
Turner’s parents also invested in Trent Bowden Trading.
Turner said the ordeal had turned his entire life upside down and left him with crippling mental health issues, as well as $70,000 worth of loans he took out believing the cash invested with Bowden was generating a return.
“My parents have gone from being able to look forward to a comfortable retirement and upgrading the last car they’ll ever own to penny-pinching on the pension,” Turner told this masthead in 2024.
“It’s put my parents and me in a colossal bind, and we’re all on the one property just striving to make ends meet.
“It’s hard knowing he had been jetting around the world, buying cars and a Rolex watch – living off your dollar while you’re busting your arse.”
That ASIC were warned about Bowden’s scheme in 2021 and did not act has left his victims bitter.
Bowden appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to three charges of dishonestly using his position as a director of Trent Bowden Trading Pty Ltd to gain an advantage for himself.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.
An ASIC spokesperson said that between March 2019 and November 2023, Bowden, through Trent Bowden Trading Pty Ltd, received more than $1.5 million from investors after representing that their funds would be invested, primarily through foreign exchange trading.
“Instead, Mr Bowden dishonestly used his position as director to access and use investor funds for personal expenses, payments to other investors and other non-trading purposes,” they said.
He’ll be back in court in August for a sentence mention.
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