Jail for property promoter

A Brisbane property promoter has been handed a two and a half year jail sentence after pleading guilty to six charges of dishonest business dealings.

Garry David McDowell, the former director of QN Pty Ltd, was convicted after pleading guilty in the Maroochydore District Court to six charges of inducing 11 individuals to deal in financial products by dishonestly concealing certain facts relating to his business. The Riverhills resident will serve a non-parole period of nine months and will be subject to a good behaviour bond for three years.

McDowell’s sentence follows civil action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in 2004 to have QN Pty Ltd and other companies within the QN Group wound up for conducting an unregistered managed investment scheme. The QN Group sold shares in residential property syndications that it managed over a number of years in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. The properties were sold after seven years and profits distributed to investors.

At the time, investors were told part of their money would be placed in a corporate investment scheme managed by Biri Investment Group in Vanuatu, which offered extremely high interest rates, as much as 3 per cent compounding every month. After the property had been sold, investors would continue to receive guaranteed yearly payments for another six years, in some cases as much as $20,000 each year.

ASIC alleged McDowell continued to market the property syndications and engage sales staff despite advice from accountants that the group was in a bad financial position and that he used money put aside for the corporate investment to keep the QN Group in operation.

The liquidator of the QN Group, Nick Combis, advised that as much as $2.2 million that was to be put aside for the corporate investment scheme was used to cover previous expenses and current trading losses.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter.