Two Australians face fraud charges over $900k Nashville singer scam [updated]

Rising Australian singer-songwriter Alys Ffion is mixed up in an alleged scam.

Sunshine Coast detectives have charged two people after allegedly conducting a fraudulent scheme on the Sunshine Coast in 2016.

Police allege the pair “dishonestly obtained around $900,000 to finance the career of a young Australian singer based in Nashville”, without her knowledge.

The accused are alleged to be known associates of 23-year-old Ffion, but not related to her.

Six people have provided information to police, which led to the arrest of Aaron Parsons and Tanya Pluckhahn on Monday (December 2).

The pair would allegedly approach individuals by email to seek investment into the singer’s career in return for regular payments based on her success.

Detective Senior Sergeant Daren Edwards told The Courier-Mail that Ffion had since from Nashville back to the Sunshine Coast, hampering her hopes to break the American music scene.

Ffion has also gone quiet on social media. Overnight her Instagram account was placed on private and shde has not posted on Facebook or Twitter since last November.

“I’ve had a look of some of the information about her and the career that was starting to develop… it is a shame and no doubt she feels very bad about what has occurred,” he said.

A 41-year-old woman and 44-year-old man were charged with five counts each of fraud and will appear in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on January 6 next year.

The Music Network understands that the funds obtained from multiple investors were used to aid a struggling eatery owned by the accused.

“This young lady had potential to have quite a good singing career,” Snr Sgt Edwards said. “From our point of view, she’s probably been used as well.”

The musician is expected to be a witness in the police case and investigators believe more people have been targeted by the group and are urging them to come forward to police.