This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE former chairman of property developer Sunland Group has been arrested by Australian Federal Police over allegations of money laundering $30 million.
John Leaver, who was instrumental in the Gold Coast development company floating on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1995, was arrested at his Sydney home.
Leaver is currently a director of ASX-listed venture capital company CVC Limited, and he was arrested along with two others, Sydney businessman, Vanda Gould, who is a chairman of CVC.
A third man, Belgian national Peter Borgas, was arrested at the Sydney International Airport as he was attempting to leave the country.
The AFP and Australian Taxation Office said in a statement that the three men have been charged with tax and money laundering offenses relating to the transfer of $30 million.
They have been charged with:
– Conspiracy to dishonestly cause a loss, or to dishonestly cause a risk of loss, to a third person, namely the Commonwealth, contrary to subsection 135.4(5) of the Criminal Code1995 (Cth).
– and conspiracy to deal with property intending that the property, namely $30,000,000, would become an instrument of crime, contrary to section 400.3(1) and section 11.5 of the Criminal Code1995 (Cth).
The offences carry maximum penalties of 10 and 25 years imprisonment respectively.
The AFP confirmed to Property Review that the men appeared in the Downing Centre in Sydney and bail was granted.
For Leaver, bail was set at $100,000 which superseded a $5 million surety if he were to breach the strict bail conditions, including reporting to police three times a week.
For Gould, bail was set at $2 million along with similar conditions of reporting to police. Finally Borgas did not have to pay bail because he was a foreign national.
The trio will be back in court for a hearing on January 28 2014.
If it case proceeds, it is likely to go before the Supreme Court of New South Wales because it exceeds the lower courts threshold of $750,000.
John Leaver was the chairman of Sunland Group and was with the company for 15 years, since its listing on the ASX in 1995 before retiring in 2010. He was also managing director of CVC from 1985 to 2001 and was a stockbroker for 24 years until 1990.
Leaver is also the former chairman of Finemore Holdings, the fourth largest transport company in Australia with revenue of approximately $400 million.
In 1995, as a director of Continental Century Pty Limited he was instrumental in obtaining the “A” satellite broadcasting licence which cost approximately $77 million. The licence process entailed extensive involvement with the government and media and the development of the initial infrastructure. The company sold the licence at a substantial profit in 1996.
The two agencies are working together on Project Wickenby, which brings together the ATO, AFP, Australian Crime Commission, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), Australian Government Solicitor and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, to identify tax evaders.
Recently CVC Limited fought the ATO in the courts to stop the agency from accessing 10 years of company data and documents.
The agencies alleged the trio established a complicated network of offshore companies in the Cayman Islands which were used to conduct business in Australia.
The agencies said profits derived from this activity were retained offshore, untaxed. The profits were then transferred back to Australian companies controlled by the offenders and disguised as loans, which it will be alleged fraudulently reduced the tax liabilities of those companies.
According to the ATO, they received a benefit of approximately $4.9 million over a five year period.
“Today’s outcome is a warning to people who abuse tax secrecy havens. We will hold tax cheats accountable,” ATO deputy commissioner Greg Williams said.
“The AFP continues to work closely with partner agencies such as the ATO to protect the Australian economy from money laundering schemes and the criminal abuse of our tax system,” AFP manager criminal assets and commander Matt Rippon said.
“The arrests made today are another example of a collaborative commitment to targeting international money laundering activity regardless of the complexity of such schemes and the efforts of offenders in disguising their activities off-shore,” he added.
Property Review
