Mr O’Dwyer was accused of dishonestly obtaining, by deception, the ability to draw down on $251 million in finance for his Ralan group of companies.The high-profile developer has a pipeline of over 3000 apartments when it collapsed in 2019.
The fraud charges, covering a three-year period between 2015 and 2018 were brought by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions after an investigation by the corporate watchdog. “As part of the loan agreements, the companies were required to satisfy lenders that pre-sale deposits paid by purchasers of residences in the developments were held in trust before draw down on the loans could occur,” the regulator said on Wednesday.
Around $132 million was drawn down upon the facilities, with $47 million repaid by the time the companies in the Ralan Group went into administration in July 2019.Mr O’Dwyer was declared bankrupt.