Richard discovered his $221,000 retirement fund vanished. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer

Richard Orr is living on borrowed time as he desperately waits alongside thousands of Australians for his frozen retirement fund to be recovered.

The 54-year-old Perth man was diagnosed with a rare and terminal pancreatic cancer in 2025, just weeks after discovering his superannuation had been wiped out.

He is now fighting for his life and the dignity of accessing his $221,000 balance after becoming inadvertently caught up in the devastating collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund.

Orr’s attempts to recover his money have been made infinitely more complicated after troubled financial firm InterPrac, the licensee responsible for directing thousands of clients to First Guardian, was sold by parent company Sequoia Financial Group to Bellbird Australia.

As Orr faced his own mortality, he wanted to ensure his nest egg could be passed down to his wife and children.

Instead, he is spending his precious time chasing the money that disappeared with First Guardian.

The worst year of Orr’s life began with a bout of aggressive symptoms.

“I was very fit and healthy. I used to work out four or five nights a week after working 12- or 13-hour days,” Orr told nine.com.au.

“All of a sudden, I just couldn’t tolerate food any more. I started losing my appetite and then I started losing weight gradually.”

The father-of-two was experiencing symptoms of stage four pancreatic cancer, worsened by a cluster of tumours impacting his kidney function.

His oncologist delivered a grim life-expectancy of just six to 12 months.

He has already surpassed this expectation and is undergoing maintenance chemo.

“They say nothing they can do for me... it’s just how long do they keep me alive for,” Orr said.

Two years before his diagnosis, Orr was considering transferring his super fund to one that could generate healthier returns.

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He moved the bulk of his superannuation fund into YourChoice Super after a cold call led him to financial advice from Rhys Reilly, an authorised representative of Interprac.

This advice cost him a one-off fee of $3300.

ASIC has since banned Reilly and Sequoia managing director and chief executive officer Garry Peter Crole from providing financial services for 10 years.

Diversa is the trustee for YourChoice Super.

Orr claims he was assured it wasn’t an “unrealistic or risky” way to invest his retirement savings.

His statement of advice (SOA), seen by nine.com.au, noted that Orr wanted to “make sure I am in a reputable fund” and to “access my super ASAP because my dad is sick, and he didn’t get to access his super”.

“I wasn’t transferring to try and make money in a day or anything that stupid... I’m aware of all that sort of thing,” Orr said.

“After that, I basically just left it alone.”

Orr supplemented his retirement fund with $100 weekly transfers, hoping he could bulk up his super for retirement in the next 10 to 15 years.

Shortly before his diagnosis, Orr began arrangements to medically retire and access his super funds.

His previous superannuation fund had $10,000 remaining in it to keep the insurance benefits.

He then chased up YourChoice to see the returns.

Logging on to his account, he discovered the balance had been reduced from $221,084.80 to $8000. He is now unable to access a single cent.

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Orr’s money had been funnelled into the failed First Guardian investment scheme.

When First Guardian collapsed into liquidation, around 6000 Australians lost $446 million in retirement funds.

Orr, like others impacted by First Guardian’s liquidation, may have a chance of recovering his money through a ruling from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Interprac is the only solvent financial advice licensee with exposure to the First Guardian fund.

But the firm’s $200,000 sale to Bellbird delays investor pathways for compensation.

By severing ties with Interprac, parent company Sequoia is no longer liable for any debts or liabilities for its subsidiaries, known as a Deed of Cross-Guarantee.

Investors seeking compensation cannot access the deep pockets of ASX-listed Sequoia if the sale is not reversed.

The sale is under Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) scrutiny.

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ASIC thwarted Sequoia’s previous attempt to offload Interprac to Conquest Investment Partners for $50,000 in early 2026.

Sequoia said in a statement to ASX that it “will cooperate with ASIC and answer all of its requests as promptly as possible”.

The sale also delays Federal Court proceedings launched by Interprac into the validity of AFCA determinations.

Meanwhile, Interprac is being sued by ASIC over its role in the Shield and First Guardian debacle.

Proceedings brought by Interprac against AFCA will be heard in February 2027.

In a statement shared to investors, AFCA said it “continues to accept complaints about Interprac and is continuing to progress investigation work on existing complaints”.

There has been an estimated $22 million in client complaints lodged with AFCA regarding Interprac.

Fury over long wait for answers

Orr said his health is worsening as he faces “delays, delays, delays”.

“There always something else coming up, so it is just never ending,” he said.

“Lately, it has just felt like one thing after another.

“That super money... should be sitting in my bank account right now.”

Prominent investor advocate and SOS Save Our Super co-founder Melinda Kee is a vocal supporter of Orr and other Interprac-linked investors.

She hopes ASIC can step in before it is too late.

“When a terminally ill father is waiting for his super while the company at the centre of these claims is sold and the court proceedings continue to be delayed, I believe the public has every right to ask serious questions,” Kee told nine.com.au.

Kee has also called on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services to haul Interprac and any parties involved in the sale before the committee and ask them to “answer questions publicly”.

“The joint committee asked tough questions of Equity Trustees and Diversa. I am asking them to now bring Interprac and the relevant parties involved in its sale before the Committee and give victims the same opportunity for accountability,” she said.

“Richard’s story is exactly why I have asked the committee to act urgently. He does not have another year to wait for answers. None of these victims should have to wait, but for Richard the clock is very real.

“Richard should be making memories with his children, not fighting for his own money.

“If his story doesn’t demonstrate the human cost of these delays, I don’t know what will.”