Sydney construction boss George Alex has today been found guilty of a conspiracy to defraud the Australian Tax Office (ATO) of $10 million.
According to The Age, a jury of nine men and three women returned a guilty verdict for Mr Alex and three co-accused Lindsay John Kirschberg, Gordon McAndrew and Pasquale Loccisano.
Two weeks ago, Mr Alex was also found guilty of conspiring to deal with more than a million dollars in proceeds of crime.
The verdicts came after a six-month trial and more than a month of deliberations.
The six-month trial involved five other men including Mr Alex’s 26-year-old son Arthur Alex, who was found not guilty of the single charge against him.
The group are accused of running a labour hire business with legitimate construction industry clients and used a multi-layered, “revolving door” of companies to pocket pay-as-you-go (PAYG) withholding tax from the wages and salaries of labour hire and office staff.
When the guilty verdict was read out in court today, Mr Alex was missing from the dock. He was recently admitted to Northern Beaches Hospital to manage his withdrawal from opioids – a fact his own lawyers only became aware of on Monday morning.
Justice Desmond Fagan agreed to vary Alex’s bail conditions to allow him to remain in hospital until another detention hearing on Friday.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for November.
Source: The Age
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