- Two 33-yr old property developers have also been charged
- Agent was publishing false sale contracts
- Trio is on bail, appearing at court on April 14
Three men, including a real estate agent, have been arrested and charged with an alleged large scale fraud occurring in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.
The men were charged as part of Strike Force Mote, which was established in May 2020 by detectives from Lake Illawarra Police District to investigate organised crime in the region.
Five search warrants were executed on Wednesday morning. This resulted in two 33-year-old property developers being arrested at homes in Wongawilli and Calderwood, along with the seizure of financial documents, poker machines, firearms and electronic devices. All of these items will undergo forensic examination.
The third man, a 35-year-old real estate agent, was later arrested at the Lake Illawarra Police Station.
It is alleged they were all part of a plot to construct 92 dwellings at Avoca Park in Avondale.
Both 33-year-old men were allegedly using falsified documents in an attempt to receive a loan to construct the homes in Avondale.
Furthermore, the 35-year-old man is alleged to have used his status as a real estate agent to publish false contracts of sale.
Specifically, the agent has been charged with nine counts of publishing false and misleading information to obtain an advantage and participate in criminal activity.
Most of the names on the false documents were known to the men and many were not planning to purchase property at all.
Lake Illawarra Detective Chief Inspector, Glen Broadhead, told ABC News that one of the individuals whose name was falsely used didn’t even know where Avondale was.
“It’s quite staggering actually….its certainly been quite deceptive,” Chief Inspector Broadhead told ABC News.
All three men have been released on bail and are due to face Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday 14 April.
To be continued…
