Victorian charged with SMSF property fraud
A Victorian man has been charged with fraud after he allegedly coaxed investors to refinance their self-managed super funds and/or homes to fund his property development projects.
Former Melbourne director Barry John Patrick illegally collected $1 million from 14 investors between 2007 and 2010 to fund property development, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleges.
Following the corporate regulator's investigation, Patrick has been charged with eight counts of obtaining property by deception, five counts of gaining the financial upper hand through deception, one count of theft, and one count of running a financial services business without an Australian financial services licence.
He has also been accused of creating companies to buy property for development, and for pushing investors to take out extra loans or credit cards.
But he used the money to pay interest payments to past and current investors, to repay loans, and for personal use.
The Federal Court of Melbourne appointed liquidators to three companies associated with Patrick and his associate Karl Heinz Hermann Veljkovic in 2007.
The companies include E.K.B Properties, Sandgrove Specialised Securities and Cardinia Specialised Securities.
ASIC accused Patrick and Veljkovic of pushing investors to roll over their super into self-managed funds and invest those funds in those companies between 2003 and 2006.
Patrick faces up to 10 years in jail, and up to two years of jail if found guilty of running a financial services business without an AFSL.
AUTHOR
Malavika Santhebennur
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